The Swordsman of Faerûn

Chapter 693 Please start your show

The collapse of any team or organization is often not from external oppression, but from internal disputes.

This scourge of infighting can apply to almost any creature, any civilization.And the most primitive, most direct, and most essential embodiment of this disaster is cannibalism.

In our world, our genetic ancestors spontaneously evolved a unique genetic weapon in order to get rid of this nightmarish cruel competition during the evolution process. Any creature that likes cannibalism, when it grows to a certain stage Finally, it will inevitably trigger a unique and contagious deadly gene virus-prion.

Almost all the characteristics of prions are specially designed for the kind of existence that likes cannibalism.In a sense, prions are not viruses, but a basic ethical protection lock for us, the dominant population of carbon-based organisms.

William is not sure if the natives of Faerun have such a unique self-protection mechanism for the species, but it should be common sense.But William is very clear that when all the individuals in a group are facing the surrounding peers but everyone is in danger, their organization is absolutely fragile.

Before William explained to everyone the dangers of the Zhentil Castle army killing each other, he first popularized the dangers of cannibalism to them, and explained it from two different angles of physiology and psychology.

Of course, the rookies from Dagger Valley just listened to these as novel knowledge, but Dove showed a look of sudden realization, she hit her palm with her fist, and sighed: "I see! I used to I have seen the destruction of many great city-states, and I feel that there is always an invisible hand behind them deliberately destroying them. It turns out that the residents of these city-states have really committed the unforgivable original sin, and it is fate that wants them to be extinct!"

Dove, however, regards the self-protection instinct of this biological group as the choice of fate.She looked at William with twinkling eyes, and said, "William, I never thought you would be so knowledgeable and wise that you could understand the mysteries of fate. But I still don't understand why the attack from Shadow Valley helps The enemy solved the fate of extinction? Didn't they eat the corpses of their companions?"

William said: "I heard that among the orcs, eating other intelligent creatures and even cannibalism is almost a norm. Presumably, the orcs do not reject eating dead bodies physiologically. But once the orcs cannibalize, their tribe will be torn apart. Even destruction is inevitable, as countless orc tribes have proven.

The Gnoll also had a similar situation.

But it is very important that their collapse and destruction are often not caused by diseases caused by cannibalism, but because the entire tribe can no longer be kneaded as a whole.

And Shadow Valley..."

When William said this, he suddenly realized that he had been repeating similar nonsense. He suddenly raised his eyes, but saw Dove looking at him with a smile on his face, as if he was admiring a perfect work of art.

He raised his eyebrows, and said angrily: "You have a bad heart, you are here to amuse me, aren't you?"

Dove smiled and said: "How can there be? I just never met a wise man like you, let alone heard such penetrating remarks, so I just want to listen to it a few more times. The elder sister is really very happy. It’s enviable, the (boyfriend) she meets is always an amazing person, the former Omri Obersky was like this, and the current guy—William is also so good.”

For Dove's compliment, which can only be regarded as a half-hearted sister-in-law, William can only respond with a wry smile. What else can he do besides a wry smile?
After that, Dove seemed to have completely opened up the chatterbox, and began to keep asking about the process of William and Hearon's acquaintance. William really had nothing to say about this kind of thing, so he asked Phinea and Xiaomi, who had personally experienced the first meeting with Hearon, Shaer pulled out to top the tank, while he found a secluded place and continued to observe the Zhentil Castle army down the mountain.

As expected, the following battles did not go as William expected, and the Zhentil Castle army quickly organized a group of troops to attack Shadow Valley Town.

On the moat of Shadow Valley Town stands a stone bridge connecting the two sides of the river. Whether it is the former business traveler or the current Zhentil Fort army, if they want to approach the city wall of Shadow Valley Town, they must pass through the bridge.
After crossing the stone bridge, you have to walk another mile to reach the city wall of Shadow Valley Town. Normally, this kind of city design cannot fully bring out the defensive properties of the moat.

Of course, this kind of unreasonable city defense layout is based on the classical defense method of William in his previous life, but it is relatively common in the land of Faerun. The reason is very simple. There is the biggest unreasonable thing in this world—— -magic.

In many cases, terrifying spellcasters are the biggest enemy of city defense facilities. Therefore, when designing city defenses, generally older or famous cities will consider how to counteract spellcasters as the top priority.

The range of most spells in this world is extremely limited. Therefore, it is more appropriate to set the moat about a mile outside the city. Of course, there are also those terrifying super spellcasters who can ignore this The city defense distance, but such a powerful character, what kind of city defense is of little significance.

A group of vanguard troops composed of orcs and gnolls took the lead on the stone bridge. When most of them reached the middle of the bridge, the stone bridge suddenly collapsed, so that dozens of wild soldiers fell into the river Among them, they were either drowned directly, or washed away without a trace.

A few lucky ones rushed across the stone bridge, and then they were killed on the spot by the Shadow Valley soldiers who jumped out suddenly.

However, this did not deter those Zhentil Fort soldiers who had not yet crossed the river. Under the command of a blond human in red robes and black armor, they reorganized their teams and manpower, cut down a large number of trees to make rafts, and then boarded the rafts. cross the river.

William looked at the play-like tactical arrangements of the people of Shadow Valley, and could only secretly sigh that the idiot was so stupid.

At this time, a voice suddenly rang in William's ear, asking: "I heard my little friend sighing to himself, but there was something wrong with the battle command of the human side just now?"

William couldn't help but blurted out: "That's right! The commander of the shadow valley opposite is short-sighted and greedy for small gains. He is so stupid to deal with it! Hmph! Compared with the commander in red, I'm afraid the opposite is much smarter."

Speaking of this, William suddenly looked back, only to see a tall old man with silver beard and hair standing behind him, looking at him with a smile on his face.This old man looked old, but he had white hair and a childlike face, his skin was tight and his complexion was ruddy. William could clearly feel that there was a majestic vitality in this man's body.

However, William didn't feel hostility from this person. He asked, "Who are you? Why are you here?"

Pointing to the hill next door, the old man said: "I am the neighbor next door, an old bone who can't be idle. Of course, you can also call my name-Elminster."

William suddenly said: "I know you, the great sage of Shadow Valley. But I'm curious, why you appear here, don't you worry about the enemy raiding the town below?"

Elminster stroked his beard and smiled, and said: "The army of the Zhentil Fort people rushed in unprepared, relying on the mortal saint Bane, but before that, the saint Bane was severely injured by the saint of the goddess of magic, Before he completely recovered from his injuries, he would never show his face.

As for my coming here, I heard Amandona (Dorve's real name) relay your exposition, and I feel that it is very profound, so I want to meet you, a rare wise man. "

William shook his head and said, "I'm just picking up people's wisdom and listening to other people's analysis and conclusions. How can I be considered a wise man? Your Excellency, the Great Sage, is absurd."

Elminster smiled and said with a smile: "No praise! No praise! Little friend William's talent is worthy of Hearon's praise. I really want to hear it, if you commanded the guard of Shadow Valley just now If the army, what would you do?"

William waved his hand and said, "I was just talking nonsense just now, and I can't take it seriously. The commander of Shadow Valley... Well, he is still very clever."

Dove next to him came over and interjected: "William, what you said is very insincere! Tell us, tell us all, so that we can learn a lot." She rushed Watching William wink his eyes, he called other people to come and listen.

William looked at his subordinates, took a deep breath and said, "If I were the commander of the human side, I would gather an elite force to line up behind the stone bridge to wait for the enemy. Most of the forward troops in Zhentil Fort After crossing the bridge, the attack of breaking the bridge was launched just now, cutting off the return route of the enemy crossing the bridge, and the enemy who is backing up will have difficulty crossing the river to support for a while.

At this time, I will lead my troops to storm the enemy crossing the bridge, and I can easily kill and wipe them out. This way of killing a large number of enemies can also destroy the morale of the army, which can be said to kill two birds with one stone. "

Elminster clapped his hands and said with a smile: "It's really a good strategy. However, the hundreds of orcs and gnolls crossing the bridge are also a big force. I'm afraid you will have to pay a big price when you surround and kill them." Bar."

However, William said: "That's why I have to exclusively select the elite soldiers, equipped with strong armor, sharp blades, strong bows and crossbows to sweep the enemy's front, and the enemy who crosses the bridge is cut off their way back, and they must be flustered, demoralized, and panicked. I'm afraid I won't even be able to display even half of my real combat power. With this long and short, and I personally leading the charge, I should be able to completely annihilate the enemy at a very small cost."

In fact, this is what William said conservatively. In his mind, if he personally leads elite soldiers like the people of Shadow Valley, it is even possible to truly annihilate the enemy's vanguard without injury.

After William finished his plan, he said to his subordinates: "There is a famous strategy for this kind of combat strategy, which is called attacking at half-cross. However, it is possible to use this tactic when fighting across a river, no matter whether the opponent is Going over the bridge, or crossing the river on a raft as they are now, or something like that."

At this time, the leopard girl from Dusk Town asked, "Lord Lord, if we go to the battlefield, how should we deal with these enemies who are crossing the river now?"

William was very happy that his subordinates asked questions, so he explained in detail: "Water warfare should be based on strong bows and crossbows first. We should shoot arrows at the river to kill the enemy who is crossing the river, making it difficult for them to cross the river with peace of mind. The efficiency of crossing the river. For the enemy crossing the river, it is the same as dealing with the enemy crossing the bridge. Gather the superior elite, or strangle them, or drive the enemy down the river, making it difficult for them to gain a foothold by the river.

Such an enemy without any cover crosses the river alone, and I will kill as many as they come. "

Even though Dove and Elminster are people who have lived for hundreds of years, the wars and adventures they have experienced before are basically confrontations at the team level or fighting alone. In fact, there are few real military scenes. There are very few, but it is a bit difficult for them to judge whether what William said is really correct.

Therefore, although they were full of praise for what William said, they were not really surprised.However, Elminster still said: "Your Excellency William, I know that you have some conflicts with Lord Moglin. But the people of Shadow Valley are now facing a fatal crisis. I hope you can put aside the past and temporarily serve as the battle commander of Shadow Valley." Officer, help the people of Shadow Valley to tide over the difficulties."

William was taken aback when he heard the words, he didn't expect the great sage of Shadow Valley to make such a request.To be honest, William was quite envious of the basic level of soldiers in Shadow Valley, but he didn't expect Mr. Elminster to be so enlightened that he wanted to use him, an enemy of Shadow Valley, as the commander. What a mind and courage.

William thought for a while, and then said solemnly: "Great Sage, please forgive me for refusing your proposal. It's not because I don't want to help you, but because the conflict between me and the high-level officials of Shadow Valley is difficult to resolve, and I beheaded you in public. That city guard officer, those soldiers will definitely be dissatisfied with me, if I really promise you, then they will definitely disobey me and refuse to obey my command, that will harm everyone instead."

"Really?" Elminster couldn't help but sighed. He also thought that if William could agree to this matter and help Shadow Valley tide over the difficulties, then the two sides would have a friendship to help each other, and he would make peace from it. It couldn't be better to take advantage of the situation to ease the possible war crisis between Shadow Valley and Dagger Valley.

However, William's mind is very clear, but he refuses to be tricked, which makes the old mage a little disappointed.

But William asked: "Great Sage, if I occupy Shadow Valley and repel the army of Zhentil Castle, are you willing to accept the situation where I rule this land?"

Elminster couldn't help being silent when he heard the words, but Dove said anxiously: "William, what nonsense are you talking about? How can you occupy the Valley of Shadows with just a few people like you? Not to mention anything else, just You can't deal with Zhentil Keep's army."

William sneered, "As long as I want, I can capture any city in the world, let alone a mere Shadow Valley?"

Elminster asked solemnly: "William, do you want to repeat what you did in Calimport? Summon the Flame Army!"

William looked at Elminster in a little surprise, and asked, "Do you know what I did in Calimport?"

Elminster said: "Kelben Blackrod and I are very good friends in Waterdeep City, and we always exchange news. "

William nodded and admitted: "Yes, I have an elite flame army, a powerful army that can destroy a city-state."

Everyone present, except William's family and Elminster, all looked at William in surprise. Many of them wondered if they had heard it wrong, and their lord actually had an army capable of massacring cities and countries. .

Dove's eyes widened, and he asked anxiously, "Old man! Tell me quickly, what did William do in Calimport? Why haven't I heard you mention it?"

Elminster cleared his throat and said: "At that time, you only thought about resisting a marriage contract with a certain person, and secretly paying attention to that drow, so how could you notice the inside story of Calimport being burned to nothingness? !"

Dove suddenly said: "I have indeed heard about the fire in Port Calim. It turned out that William did it, but how is it possible?"

　It has been corrected and can be subscribed normally.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)