My Chinese ancestors

Chapter 644 The Wind in the Distance
September, Nongma City.

The news of the defeat at the front had already spread, and the city was now in a state of panic. People were coming and going on the streets, and everyone was in a hurry, appearing to be worried.

As soon as the morning came, the nobles of all sizes in the city and the remaining legion commanders gathered in the royal palace. The emperor above hadn't spoken yet, and the people below were clamoring, as noisy as a market.

Talking about how to resist next, the other party may have entered Nongma’s territory today.

The army of Ceres can no longer be viewed with common sense.

Under normal circumstances, the morale of such a large army would not be able to hold up even if it had won several battles in a row. However, the Seris people, no matter how many people they lost and with almost no food, still maintained high morale and pushed forward.

It's as if there is no aftereffect of war.

"Your Majesty, I don't believe that the army of the Seres doesn't need to rest. They marched westward from the Samo Plateau and then northward from Mondogo in the central part of the Analia Province. They traveled thousands of miles and fought a big battle. Anyone would be tired!"

In addition to the Knights of the Round Table in the royal palace, there were also many legion commanders serving as lieutenants, many of whom were experienced in combat.

"The four legions of Holy Light and Holy War are stationed at the border. Lancelot is also a calm general. It is impossible for him to be defeated so quickly. Perhaps this is another news deliberately released by the Celis people."

Considering that there are also many strategists in the eastern legion, it is not ruled out that the news of defeat on the front line may have been forged by the other side.

You know, Lancelot's leadership was not only recognized by all the legion commanders and the Knights of the Round Table, but also trusted by Arthur himself.

Only with such a steady veteran leading the army would he feel at ease. As long as they advanced steadily, relied on the terrain and food, as well as the harassment of the people of Sakpruit outside, they would eventually have a great advantage over the Biceres army.

After that, he would deploy countermeasures step by step, accumulate strength, and use the different secret techniques of the Knights of the Round Table to break one route, especially the army of Ceres in the province of Analia. As long as this army was defeated, the other two routes would retreat.

The Sakprut Empire will usher in the dawn of true victory.

After the lieutenant general finished speaking, the wise knight Gawain came out. He frowned slightly and said, "There is no such thing as luck in war. No matter how powerful the people of Ceres are and how many schemes they have, they can't bypass the two legions of the Holy Light Crusade and send a false war report to Nongma City."

King Arthur nodded slightly and looked at him deeply.

"Gawain's words are rarely wrong!" The Thunder Knight, Bedivere, wearing a half-iron mask, walked up to Gawain and said, "Nongma City must prepare for defense as soon as possible. The army of Ceres is advancing very quickly. If the front line is really defeated, they must have been heading this way by now."

"I believe in Gawain too!"

Tristan, with his feminine beauty, held a rose in his mouth, standing between the two men and bowing slightly towards King Arthur above him.

When the lieutenant general of the legion who was refuted saw the knights retorting, he had to retreat and did not dare to argue with them. After all, the emperor still trusted these knights the most.

This was the consensus of all the generals in each legion. In the noisy palace, the guardian knight Boss had always been a silent man. He was leaning on a square sledgehammer and holding a square iron shield, standing like an iron tower on the right side below the throne.

Arthur above had put down the battle report and handed it to Merlin who was stepping forward. As a legendary pioneer and creator of Great Britain, it was impossible for him to be defeated by one or two defeats.

Arthur stood up from the throne and raised his hand. The buzzing voices below gradually faded away.

When the hall grew quiet, Arthur slowly opened his mouth and got down to business.

"The outcome of a few wars has never been the key to the final victory. Although the front line is tight and Lancelot may really be defeated and lose all 100,000 troops, but the people of Ceres didn't lose a single person?"

His voice was so powerful that it echoed in the palace, and the burning lights on both sides were shaken.

"If thousands or tens of thousands of people rush forward, as long as one of the Seris dies, their attack will be weakened. And we still have so many troops and civilians, hundreds of thousands, millions, or even tens of millions, it is enough to wear them down. If that is not enough, there are still eight million people in the Mediterranean to the south!"

While he was speaking, a fast horse came from outside and rushed into the castle madly. The latest battle report was also delivered to the palace and appeared in front of Arthur.

This is a more detailed battle report.

Arthur looked at the handwriting above. The arrogance just now, and even the expression that should have been on his face, were all stripped away in an instant.

He held the battle report with an expressionless face, exuding a high fighting spirit.

"Arthur?" Merlin walked up to him and called softly.

The lieutenants of the legions in the royal palace looked at each other in bewilderment. How could they not see how strange King Arthur's expression was now?

"The front line has definitely failed, but I don't know where the Seris have fought to."

"It's fine if the main force of the Seris pushes over. But if the Seris in Mirantel and the Seris in the West Sea attack together, that will be the most dangerous time."

"Lancelot and several other knights, I wonder if they can escape the blades of Ceres' army."

There was a cacophony of voices in the palace.

The Knights of the Round Table who stayed behind in Nongmar were all looking up at King Arthur with bated breath.

The next moment, the emperor standing in front of the throne suddenly burst into laughter.

"As I expected, the frontline troops still failed. But this is also a good thing. It allows me to see clearly what kind of soldiers I command are like."

In a sight that only Merlin could see, Arthur was talking and laughing boldly, and his fingers were holding the battle report, the joints of his fingers were turning white from exertion.

"We are really defeated...then shouldn't the people of Seris have come to attack us?"

Inside the royal palace, the deputy generals of each legion fell silent, and an eerie and deadly atmosphere instantly filled the air.

The emperor in front of the throne took slow steps, "Gerraint died in the battle... Gareth and Lancelot escaped, and the four legions of Holy Light and Holy War that came to support them fought a fierce battle with a Celis army, losing some soldiers, but they managed to retreat safely."

The voice was gentle and slow. In the quiet hall, one could hear breathing. Everyone's face was filled with disbelief.

Many people have already imagined that in the near future, the Seris will be at the gates of the city. After years of peace, Ophiro will face the scourge of war, which is not what they want to see.

"Your Majesty...did the battle report mention where the Seris people fought to?"

Arthur threw the battle report to the ground and turned to walk towards the throne: "It doesn't matter where you fight. The question is whether you can defend Nongma. But in my opinion, you can't."

King Arthur sat back on the throne, and put his hands heavily on the golden armrests. "The Seres are coming soon, so let's have a good fight with them in Nongmar. You don't need to panic, just perform your duties."

The deputy generals of the legions present were somewhat relieved to see that the emperor above them looked calm. If the emperor was not in a hurry, they would naturally not be in a hurry either.

"I have always thought that I was blessed by God, the savior of this world, and the greatest emperor. I never expected that the Emperor Ceres across from me is the one who is the greatest emperor!"

Arthur's expression was calm and his eyes showed no emotion, but the Knights of the Round Table who were always by Arthur's side and the magician Merlin knew very well that Arthur was in the worst mood at this moment.

Sitting on the throne, Arthur stroked the carvings on the armrests, then he gave an order.

"With the Guardian Corps as the center and Nongma as the center, mobilize Nongma's two million civilians to defend the city!"

Inside the hall, no matter whether it was the Knights of the Round Table or the lieutenant general of the legion, each of them had a heavy expression on their face. They raised their hands, clenched their fists, pressed their shoulders, and readily agreed!

……

The order was quickly conveyed from the palace, and the various legions were quickly mobilized outside the city. Such actions naturally confirmed the news of the defeat on the front line. Nongma City is the eastern gateway of Ofeiro. The streets are wide and paved with many bluestones. There are many shops on both sides. After the news spread, pedestrians on the street hurried, and everyone had a look of fear on their faces.

The taverns in the city were doing more prosperous business than usual. After the order to protect Nongma came from the palace, many rangers gathered in the taverns.

These civilian rangers gathered together and naturally talked about the Seris army coming to attack. There were many enthusiastic people among them, so they posted information in the tavern, inviting some people to form a team and find a way to sneak attack the Seris scouts outside the city and contribute their own strength to the country.

Of course, after some nobles came out of the palace, they knew that the battle record of the Seres was even more terrifying than the Sakpruit army that swept across Europe and the Mediterranean, so they took advantage of the night to flee from Nongma with their families and money.

However, Arthur and Merlin had already taken this aspect into consideration. As soon as the nobles who wanted to escape left the city, they were killed in the aisle by the ambushed army, and then their bodies were taken away along with the carriages.

The one who presided over all this was the wise knight Gawain. In his words, "Before defending Nongmare, we must first kill those who have disloyalty and those who are afraid of death. We cannot let these people affect the morale of the army in the subsequent battles."

Just as the law enforcement troops were clearing out the escaped and passive nobles and checking their homes for food and gold and silver, the atmosphere in Nongma City had become extremely tense.

Even though a conscription order had been issued, many civilians still rushed to the city gates with their families. Even officials in administrative offices secretly changed into simple civilian clothes and mixed in, attacking the city gates and taking advantage of the chaos to leave the city with the terrified civilians.

On the other hand, the news that the 100,000-strong army was defeated again was also spreading in the heartland of Europe and the west, and on the third day after the news spread.

Even more shocking news came from Mirantel in the east.

——In the western part of Mirantel, a terrible plague broke out, and a large number of civilians were infected and died. Originally, these civilians were blocking the two Ceres armies there, but most of them were dead at this time, and those who were not dead were almost dead.

To the west of Miranter, there were almost no living people in the villages and towns.

Some people estimated that more than one million people died in this sudden plague. Many people in Nongma were so frightened that it was like a bucket of cold water poured directly into boiling oil.

Even Arthur, Merlin and others were shocked when they heard it.

Although it is a hot summer day, the plague came too coincidentally...

Lancelot, Gareth, Percival and Gaheris who came back were also speechless. Especially Lancelot who was seriously injured, his eyes rolled back and he fell into coma after hearing it.

At this time, in the huge military camp on the southern border of Nongma, Su Chen raised his head, looked at the generals in the army, and passed on the intelligence he had just received.

"More than a million people in a few days...haha!"

Su Chen couldn't suppress a smile as he spoke, "I have already guessed who did it."

After reading the battle report, Lu Bu, Xiang Yu, An Lushan, Xiahou Yuan and other generals all smiled without saying a word, and looked at Ma Chao and the other two who brought back the news.

The three of them were a little tired after sleeping in the open air all the way, so Pang De simply pointed out: "It's General Jia!"

"Damn it... more than a million people, to kill them just like that, it had to be Jia Xu."

Xiahou Dun couldn't help but sigh. After all, they were of the same generation and former colleagues, so he was naturally very familiar with Jia Xu.

"However, there is still one person. Without his support, the general probably won't have a chance to take action."

Su Chen was in a good mood. The generals on the opposite side knew who the person he was talking about was without having to guess.

Mr. Wu An, Bai Qi!

"Okay, now that Mirantel has been cleared, and the troops of Wu Anjun and others have also arrived, it's time to go over and join them!"

At the same time Su Chen stood up from behind the desk, all the generals in the tent stood up from their folding stools, stopped their laughter and scolding, and looked seriously at the emperor opposite them.

They all bowed in unison, and the sound echoed throughout the tent.

"Here!"

Su Chen nodded, turned around and was about to leave, but suddenly stopped and turned his head to look at everyone.

"By the way, Lord Governor Zheng, have you heard any news about Governor Zhou?"

Wu Zixun, who was in charge of intelligence, shook his head first. Lu Bu, Xiang Yu and other generals were reminded by this and just then they remembered that they still had another force attacking from the sea.

It’s just that we are too far apart and there has been no news since then.

"Will they all be buried in the sea?"

As soon as Ma Dai finished speaking, Le Jin kicked him in the knee from behind, almost knocking him to the ground. Le Jin spit at him, "If you can't speak, don't speak."

Xu Huang smiled and said, "You sound like you are good at talking. What did you say to His Majesty when you saw off the soldiers who died in the battle a few days ago?"

"What did he say?" Ma Dai rubbed his knees, not getting annoyed, and asked Xu Huang curiously. The latter shook his head and said nothing, then walked out of the tent.

Seeing that he didn't say anything, Ma Dai asked Xiang Lejin himself.

"What did you say?"

"It has nothing to do with you." Le Jin also walked out with a dark face.

"What did he say?"

Ma Dai looked at the generals who were leaving in groups of two or three, and no one paid any attention to him.

"What on earth did you say?!"

His voice lingered in the tent for a long time until he was dragged out by Ma Chao and returned to his own tent to rest.

……

At the same time, when the news of the defeat of 100,000 men in the north of Mondogo reached the heartland of Ophelia, in the distant West Sea, hundreds of warships tore open the defense line of the Ophelia Western Sea Islands after two fierce battles.

A burning warship of the Sakprut Empire sank to the bottom of the sea with black smoke.

The loud sound of cannons gradually disappeared in the sweeping sea tide, and more than a dozen ships broke away from the cruising warships.

Zhou Yu walked onto the deck, looked to the east, and could vaguely see the coastline in the distance.

"Bofu, Yu has found a new target. Haha... Look where I am leading my navy to kill."

The sea breeze blew on his face. He was wearing bright silver armor and a half-red battle robe. He held the sword at his waist with one hand, and there was an indescribable sense of high spirits between his brows.

There is also a hint of loneliness.

"It would be so pleasant if I could sail with you to the barbarian lands of the West."

(End of this chapter)