Chapter 97: Father and Son's Thoughts (Part 2)

  "If we only look at the terrain of the southern mountains of the kingdom, we are just a small pass in the northeast. But looking at the wolf territory in the south and the centaur territory in the north together, the southern mountains are a prominent part of the entire border line of the kingdom."

  At the foot of a mountain not far west of Embarbent Fortress, Liu Yu held a small wooden stick and crouched on the ground, drawing a map of the Beastman Kingdom's borders in a patch of muddy land.

  Digor and Ivan were squatting beside him, both of them listening to Liu Yu's words, especially Ivan staring intently at the rough sketch drawn by Liu Yu, listening very seriously.

  "Last year, the kingdom took away from the Sasserian garrison this hundred-mile-long southern mountain range. Now the Imperial Guard of Fanoed has appeared in Sasser Province, and I don't know if there is an Imperial Guard in Rhein Province, but I estimate that there will be, and their main attack direction will also be our southern mountains." Liu Yu heavily pointed to the south on the map with a small wooden stick.

  Because they were originally intended to be the main force of attack with a large number of cavalry legions drawn from the northwest of the empire. The flat terrain of the centaur territory is suitable for cavalry attacks, and retreats are also convenient. Before the kingdom completely occupied the southern mountains last year, the cavalry of the Rhine province could basically do whatever they wanted, attacking or retreating at will.

  But now it's not possible, the southern mountain range serves as a prominent bulge, the kingdom can not only use this springboard to directly dispatch troops, attack Sasu Province in the south, and pin down their northern cavalry's attacking force.

  Troops can also be dispatched from the northeast of the southern mountains to attack the south wing of the cavalry advancing on the Rhine, and even cut off their rear, annihilating them on the centaur's grasslands.

  "And to the northeast of the southern mountain range, in the farthest northeast is our Emalbeng Fortress." As he said this, Liu Yu's face slightly flushed and he took a deep breath, showing some excitement.

  ............

  "Fort Emmerich and the two small forts surrounding it are like a nail, inserted into the entire defensive formation of our border troops in the Feste Prinz Regent formation. We control this place, to the east we can attack the province of Sas, to the north we can cut off the rear route of the Rhine province cavalry."

  "This is the most important place in the southern part of the kingdom." Gaia withdrew her finger pointing at the map, looked at the Bimon officers surrounding her and said solemnly.

  "The kingdom initially occupied the part of the mountain controlled by Farnod, based on this idea, rather than for the existing fortifications built by the Farnod garrison, which I didn't tell you at the time."

  So from this perspective, if we were the commander of the Rhine and Sasuke provinces of the Fano Empire, then in this battle, the first nail to be pulled out would necessarily be the Emalben fortress and the two small passes within tens of miles around it.

  "This is where they will focus their attack, they have concentrated two Imperial Guard legions in the south of Sas Province, but it's just a decoy. Their elite forces must already be preparing to attack Emalben Fortress." Gaia's gaze swept across the many Bimon military officers beside her, causing them to tremble.

  "Marshal says so, how many troops have we actually sent to support the fortress of Emarben?" Cain, who was next to Gaia, reacted first and asked back.

  "After we occupied the Emalbong fortress, there has always been an elder secretly stationed there. After discovering the Imperial Guard, the Elder's Association also sent another elder, and the Military Affairs Office also doubled the defensive force there."

  Three days ago, the defenders of Wumeng sent back a message saying that they encountered Imperial Guards during their patrol. The Military Affairs Department immediately ordered to double the reinforcements again, and now it is estimated that the supporting forces have arrived." Gaiya replied with an unchanged expression.

  "What does the Da Duiwei mean?" Erye also asked with a bow.

  "This time we will defend the entire line as Kane said, and the Farnode garrison must launch a full-scale attack on the kingdom. But no matter how strong the offensive is in the half-human horse territory and the wolfman territory, it's all an illusion."

  "They must take it down, and we must defend it at all costs. That is the fortress of El'goroth." Gaia's voice was slightly higher than usual.

  ..........

  "So the place we're defending must be the main direction of the Farnod Empire's attack, and the high-level officials at the Kingdom Military Affairs Department must have also figured this out. That's why you saw the fifth brigade coming to support us early this morning." Liu Yu casually threw away the wooden stick, stood up, patted the dust off his legs, and turned around to head towards the fortress.

  "Ah, is that it? What are we going to do now?" Di Geng hastily asked as he saw Liu Yu about to leave.

  "We just need to be good little soldiers. The rest isn't up to us." Before Liu Yu could respond, Ivan had already given the answer.

  "Father, you must have thought of it. What would you do?" Liu Yu walked back, looking at the tall black stone city wall of the pass, thinking about the imperial guards rushing like a mighty wave, and pondering how his father Gaius would respond at this time.

  ...............

  After Gaia made it clear to the officers inside the stone hut about the importance of Emal's fortress, the atmosphere in the room quickly became extremely oppressive and gloomy.

  Gaia turned sideways, facing the numerous Bimon officers. The high-ranking officials in the Beastman Kingdom's army thought he was about to give an important order and stood up straight, ready to listen for instructions. However, Gaia suddenly clapped his hands together, and like a magic trick, a golden longsword appeared in his hand.

  "Hmm" "Huh?" This long sword, including the hilt and blade, is about 1.8 meters in length. From the scabbard to the hilt, it shines with a dazzling golden light. On its scabbard are embedded two gems, one brown and one red, while at the end of the hilt is embedded a transparent gem as clear as water.

  The entire long sword, from the hilt to the end of the scabbard, is engraved with a powerful golden pattern of a bimon, which, despite being divided by the hilt and scabbard, does not affect the integrity of the pattern.

  When the long sword appeared in Gaia's hand, several Bam military officers who were normally resolute and decisive showed unexpected expressions on their faces, with some even letting out a slight gasp, as if they had never thought that this sword would appear in Gaia's hand.

  "Your Majesty, the Beast King's sword is below. Proclaim the decree." Gaia raised her hands and lifted the long sword above her head, looking straight ahead with a serious expression while issuing a command.

  "We your servants will obey Your Majesty's orders, even unto death." Upon hearing this, all the Bamana officers present, except for Ture, immediately knelt down and respectfully said.

  "With the beast god granting me the right to command the beast tribe, I, Kero, hereby declare that Gaia has absolute control over any army of our clan within the kingdom. Defend against Fano's attack and may our warriors sweep away all enemies under the glory of the beast god. Whoever disobeys military orders will be killed without pardon." After Gaia finished her declaration, Tolomei immediately took out a golden scroll from his bosom, unfolded it neatly and read aloud.

  "We obey your orders and are willing to follow the command of the Grand General." The many Bamong officers who were kneeling down immediately responded when they heard this order.

  "Rise. This is the Elder's signed decree, take a look." Gaia saw that all the Bimon officers present were obeying orders, their hands lightly clasped together as their long swords disappeared, and in their hands appeared a white cloth scroll. Gaia handed it to one of the Bimon officers in front of him, which was covered with dense golden beast tribe script.

  The Bimon officers present immediately began to circulate the white cloth scroll, but the golden Bimon known as Cain stood up and looked at Gaya's hand holding the long sword, his eyes somewhat scorching.

  "Your Majesty and the Council of Elders have already drafted a general mobilization order, which will be sent to all parts of the country today. You don't need to worry about the rear. In addition, the Council of Elders has mobilized all nine high-ranking officials from the three tribes of Mong, Wolf, and Centaur, regardless of whether they are in seclusion, teaching, or traveling, to be on standby at any time. The military elders also don't need to worry."

  This time, the pressure on our defending troops everywhere will be great, and I will set up a large camp one hundred miles in front of Wenshui Pass to command.

  His Majesty has recalled all the retired guards from the previous batch, and dispatched another 200 guards, a total of 500 guards formed into one camp. He also bestowed his magical armor upon me, and my own magical armor will be vacated." After many Bimon military officers finished passing around the white scroll, Gaya said some words about the kingdom's preparations in a light tone.

  "Now I need one of you to take five hundred guards and my armor to the fortress of Emarben, to face the elite vanguard of the Empire of Farnode."

  "Whoever is willing to go, take a step forward." Gaia's cold and low voice echoed softly in the room.

  Happy New Year!