The Invincible Overlord of Heroes.

Chapter 608 The war is about to begin
It was not until noon that Xu Lai lazily got up from the bed.

After running around outside for nearly two months, the gains were not much. Including yesterday's battle with the stronghold flying corps, only tens of thousands of stronghold units were killed.

Dozens of paladins advanced to holy light knights, and a dozen archangels advanced to seraphs, but the improvement to the battle situation was not significant.

And because there are too many top-level units, most of the experience is wasted.

With Xu Lai's current level, tens of thousands of orcs are just a drop in the bucket, and the progress bar increases by less than 1%.

The dropped gold coins and materials could not fully make up for the money Xu Lai invested.

What's more, because he had to rush around one after another and he was basically recruiting units, except for the corpses of the thunderbirds that were recovered by Xu Lai, he was too lazy to even pick up the rest of the drops.

Although Xu Lai's own gains were not great, he successfully achieved his strategic goals:
The orcs' channels for obtaining intelligence were basically blocked, and the area west of Stone City was cleared. Even the large herds of wild cattle and horses in the area were driven away from this area.

But even so, it cannot be considered insurance.

The resources of the grassland will grow much faster than Xu Lai imagined.

Even with the help of the elven forest herders and the unremitting efforts of Bai Yang and others, the fact that two dense forests grew in two months still found Xu Lai unbelievable.

The vigorous growth of plants means that the reproduction of animals will also be accelerated to a certain extent. For example, rabbits have a very strong reproductive capacity. They can produce a litter of dozens of rabbits a week, and they can grow and mature in a month.

This terrifying speed means that both herbivores and carnivores on the grassland have almost no shortage of food.

This also means that it is impossible to completely cut off the orcs' supplies.

At most, the orcs' supplies will not be able to keep up with the speed of consumption.

Although he had the rare opportunity to relax for a short while, Xu Lai didn't dare to continue relaxing.

Upon receiving the news that Xu Lai had returned, Lena assembled the officers of the Qingfeng Corps early in the morning and prepared to report to Xu Lai.

The Qingfeng Corps has not done much in the past two months, except for recruiting and training new soldiers.

The morale of the entire legion was maintained above 95 points, which was diluted a little by the new recruits, but once fighting side by side with the Seraphim, it could still reach the full value of 100 points.

Although the Stone City uses a ready-made castle-level fortress heart, fortresses, base camps and castles all require time to build and upgrade.

Therefore, the number of elven soldiers recruited by Stone City is not large.

However, in the past two months, the troops recruited from the entire grassland have been sent to Qingfeng City, Conaston and Wanshi City.

In order to avoid accidents or other losses during transportation, we send the goods to the nearest place. Anyway, they can be reorganized no matter where they are delivered.

This was a right that Aini had never enjoyed before. He was only the biggest noble in the grassland, and the rest of the cities, including the buildings occupied in the wild, all had owners.

No matter how much Aini thought about it, he could not ask others to contribute their soldiers to him unless he was willing to pay a price for it, such as spending money.

But if he didn't want to spend money, Aini could at most recruit these nobles under his command in advance when he wanted to carry out military operations.

Moreover, unless it was a special case, the nobles were responsible for the troops they brought with them.

Only in situations like the previous one, when two camps are fighting, will it be necessary to reorganize the troops.

However, Xu Lai didn't need that. All the cities were conquered by Xu Lai or they surrendered voluntarily.

The city they used to live in no longer belonged to them, but to Xu Lai.

Those who voluntarily surrendered to Xu Lai were fine as they could still manage their own cities. As for those cities conquered by Xu Lai, they were naturally under the management of officials appointed by Xu Lai.

By gathering the strength of the entire grassland, we can recruit thousands of soldiers every month.

Even some low-level infantry and archers can basically be upgraded in high-level buildings.

At the current rate, several thousand mid-level and above combat forces can be accumulated in a month. If this continues, it will definitely be of great benefit to Xu Lai.

After listening to the report, Xu Lai encouraged everyone and had lunch with everyone at noon.

In the afternoon, Xu Laize, accompanied by his old subordinates such as Tahan and Yan Feng, reviewed the Qingfeng Corps and gave encouragement and promises to the soldiers.

Xu Lai has always treated his soldiers well because he loves his soldiers and there are many things in that army that make him proud.

But today is different. Today, Xu Lai needs them to die.

In any case, there is still a huge gap between his side and the soldiers in the stronghold. Every word he said today was encouraging these soldiers to die.

Therefore, Xu Lai felt a little guilty, and this guilt became his promise for a better life in the future.

“Kill an orc of the same rank and you’ll get 10 bounties. Kill an orc general and you’ll get promoted one level. Kill an orc chieftain and you’ll get promoted three levels.

Kill an orc hero, divide the land and reward the title. "

Xu Lai himself was only a baron, and it was impossible for him to be granted a title. He had neither the qualifications nor the desire to do so.

Although the aristocratic feudal system is a tradition of this world.

But this tradition has always been disliked by rulers.

Previous Supreme Kings had established permanent legions and permanent orders of knights in the name of the empire in order to concentrate military forces and centralize power.

The nobles under the feudal system had too much power, which also led to the excessive dispersion of the empire's military forces, giving opportunities to camps such as strongholds, dungeons, hells and cemeteries.

However, the High King did not last long in this endeavor as he passed away. The subsequent High Kings no longer faced threats from other camps and faced great pressure from domestic backlash, so they gradually gave up their efforts in this regard.

Xu Lai is different. He is considered to be an entrepreneurial generation and has enough authority and strength, and most importantly, enough excuses.

Even Jimmy, the first nobleman under Xu Lai, has not been able to improve his status so far.

Because he is a viscount, the person he is loyal to is a baron. How shameless does he have to be to ask a baron to grant him a fief?

If even Jimmy couldn't speak, how would the other nobles who had surrendered to Xu Lai, either voluntarily or passively, dare to speak?

If they ever angered Xu Lai, Xu Lai would really dare to kill their entire family and hang them all in the most prosperous areas of their respective towns.

Anyway, Xu Lai had killed many nobles before, and everyone could see that Xu Lai was not very fond of nobles.

Xu Lai was unwilling to enfeoff nobles, but he was willing to enfeoff land. However, the owners of these lands only had the right to harvest, not the right to operate and manage.

As soon as Xu Lai finished speaking, the Qingfeng Army, which was neatly arranged and being inspected, suddenly burst into thunderous cheers.

Especially under the leadership of Tahan and others, the shouts of "Long live the people" made Xu Lai get goose bumps all over his body.

This was not the first time Xu Lai made a promise, nor was it the first time he issued a reward. Xu Lai had fulfilled all the promises he made to the soldiers before, and even exceeded them, so even if he did not move any boxes of gold coins now, everyone believed in Xu Lai unconditionally.

This made Aini, who was also in the Stone City, look envious.

The poisoner and the cattle and sheep were all transported to the Stone City. Aini, the most critical figure in the poisoning plan, was naturally also secretly imprisoned in the Stone City.

Moreover, this is an elven city. The old man from Stone Castle who had stayed here before was not able to adapt to it. Apart from the laborers mobilized from the rear, there were almost no outside managers.

To put it simply, in this place, Aini couldn't find any help, and couldn't even find anyone to talk to.

Those who were guarding him and protecting him were all elves, and not even a human could be seen within a hundred meters.

Out of trust in Xu Lai, all the soldiers believed that Xu Lai would definitely fulfill his promise.

At the same time, they also believe that if they sacrifice themselves, their children and parents will never be abused in any way.

Because in Qingfeng City, Xu Lai has established a Martyrs' College specifically for the education and care of all the martyrs' families.

Although the Qingfeng Legion has been busy for the past six months, all the changes in Qingfeng City have been seen by these people.

Although the military is a closed place, it has never been a place where information is isolated.

But whether it was the family members who came to visit or the passers-by met on the march, everyone would give a thumbs up when mentioning Xu Lai, unless they were not from the grassland.

Even if Xu Lai appeared in front of the Qingfeng Legion, even if he did not make any promises today, the spiritual outlook of the entire Qingfeng Legion would be completely renewed.

Originally, the Seraphim had to be deployed to raise the morale that the Qingfeng Legion had lost to its full value.

However, Elvy and the others had not yet appeared, and even the holy warriors like Roland had not played a role. Just a few words from Xu Lai had already boosted the morale of the entire legion to the extreme.

Xu Lai slowly pressed his hand down, and the cheers of the crowd slowly stopped.

"Of course, where there is a reward there must be a punishment. This time we are going to face a battle that concerns the lives of countless people on the entire grassland.

Behind us are our parents, relatives, friends, lovers and children.

As long as the Stone City stands here, the orc army will not be able to bypass the Stone City and attack our families behind us.

Therefore, I hope that you will defend this city to the death and never retreat!"

"Never back down, never back down!"

The army under the castle shouted loudly again.

They already knew that this time almost all the troops from the stronghold came out, and the situation was more critical than the last time.

The difference is that last time, in addition to having fewer orc soldiers, the grassland also has temples, towers, and support from elves.

Now, although the elves have sent some people, their number is not large, and except for an ancient guardian, they are not very powerful.

Even the number of their own soldiers has been reduced from hundreds of thousands to less than 10 Qingfeng Corps soldiers, including new recruits and logistics corps.

Therefore, the situation this time is much more critical than before.

However, this time they have a stronger and larger city, sufficient logistical supplies, a trustworthy and powerful commander, and relatives to protect.

"So, let me make it clear: anyone who retreats without an order will be beheaded, anyone who refuses to advance will be beheaded, anyone who disobeys an order will be beheaded, and anyone who refuses to obey will also be beheaded.

At the same time, those who were beheaded for violating military discipline and military law would be deprived of all honors and rewards.

He himself cannot obtain the status of a martyr, and his family members cannot receive the treatment as martyr's relatives.

This order is valid for everyone present here, and it also applies to me.

From today on, our battle with the orcs in the stronghold has officially begun.

I will appoint Commander Reina as the overall commander of this campaign, responsible for commanding and directing all battles on the front line."

When the orcs attacked before, it was difficult to bypass Stonehold, and the most they could do was send wolf riders and flying troops to harass the rear.

Otherwise, with the presence of Stonehold's army, once the main force of the orcs bypassed them, Stonehold's army would definitely block the orcs' food supply route.

Now, facing the Stone City which is longer and larger, with dense forests on both sides, it is even more difficult for the orc troops to cross.

Of course, the enemy's cavalry and flying units could not be stopped by the defenders of Stone City alone.

Besides, Xu Lai couldn't let Wanshi City fall into an isolated and helpless situation. If he knew that there would be no reinforcements, Xu Lai couldn't guarantee that the morale would not drop rapidly.

In addition, the ammunition for catapults, crossbows, and turrets cannot be supplied by the Stone City alone, and must be resupplied from the rear.

On the contrary, there is a huge reserve of food in Wanshi City, enough to feed more than 100,000 people in the city for two to three years.

There are not many people in Wanshi City. The Qingfeng Legion and Wang Chao's logistics troops have a total of less than 100,000 people.

The rest were civilians mobilized from major cities, recruited farmers, and a small number of reinforcements supported by the elves, totaling less than 20 people.

However, these 20 people are all combat soldiers and young and middle-aged people. After the Qingfeng Legion has been promoted many times, the average level of the army is 5 even with the new recruits.

In addition, there were increasingly skilled logistics troops, a large number of construction workers who were good at repairing city walls, and a commander with expertise in defense.

We must be determined to defend this city. Even the main force of the stronghold will not be able to take it in a short time.

In the Stone City, there were also the magic catapults that Aini had sent over before. Xu Lai even dismantled the remaining ones from Conaston Castle.

These catapults may not be as powerful as tens of thousands of Cyclops, but at least their range is definitely far greater.

Therefore, after inspiring people's hearts, Xu Lai no longer had anything to explain or arrange for Wanshi City.

He had no plan to stay here, and besides him, Tahan, Yan Feng and other cavalry troops would also leave together.

Although the cavalry will not be inferior to the infantry after dismounting, it is inevitable that their combat effectiveness will be greatly reduced.

However, Xu Lai left Elvy and her army of angels to Lena.

In addition, the stronghold also has a terrifying number of wolf cavalry regiments. Although Xu Lai appointed Jimmy to protect the rear, he still couldn't do anything.

Taking all the circumstances into consideration, Xu Lai decided to let Lena and the Qingfeng Legion guard the Stone City, and let Jimmy and the Knight Wind Legion serve as the reserve force to guard the rear passages and support various battlefields.

Su Ya was in charge of the defense and production of all the rear cities, while Xu Lai was responsible for the mobile warfare part which he was best at.

(End of this chapter)