On the Seven Towers

"Shi Hao!" Huang Zheng saw Shi Hao being killed by the enemy and his team being killed by the Black Guards. He was so distracted that he failed to cast a spell. The uncontrolled magic power impacted his mind and body, making his injuries worse. Huang Zheng felt dizzy and was about to faint again.

At this time, he suddenly felt his body lighten, and the body pressing on him seemed to be moved away.

Then someone grabbed his calf and slowly dragged him to the corner.

Huang Zheng knew very well that this must not be an imperial man, so he did not make a sound, and he forced himself to cooperate to avoid some obstacles on the ground.

When the man dragged him to a dead corner of the house where he could avoid the Black Guards, a soul link was connected to his consciousness.

"Old Huang, Huang Zheng, Huang Zheng! Can you hear me? I am the second battalion commander Ma Guoming. You have to hold on now. I will take you out."

"Ma Mingguo?" Huang Zheng half-opened his eyes and looked at the familiar man in front of him. Suddenly, his nose felt sore. He suppressed his emotions and said, "You, you were responsible for the city wall."

"Yes. Old Huang, there is no time to talk now. I will carry you on my back and go south first." After Ma Mingguo finished speaking, Huang Zheng felt that he was carried by someone, and then quickly walked towards a path on the edge of Heimu Pass.

"What is the situation now?" Huang Zheng asked while lying on Ma Mingguo's back.

"We had a fierce battle with the Imperials on the top of the city. Although we suffered heavy losses, we also killed many enemy mages. Just now, when I decided to fight to the end, I received an order from Captain Shi to retreat. We retreated to the bottom. I wanted to take a look at the enemy's movements near the main battlefield, but I didn't expect to see the scene of Captain Shi leaving. At that time, he said that he would cover the retreat, but I felt it was inappropriate, alas..." Ma Mingguo's tone was full of sadness.

"How is your situation? How many people in the second battalion have withdrawn?" Huang Zheng asked.

"Only half, only half! Half of them died, all of them were good guys! We fought so badly in this battle." Ma Mingguo sighed, "Those who could retreat went south from the corridor on the east side, and those who couldn't take the artillery were destroyed. Fortunately, Zhang Hong led a group of people to find this passage where there are no imperial people at present, otherwise we would be trapped on the city wall."

"Zhang Hong? Why is he doing this?"

"I heard from the messenger that it was Zhang Hong who opened the communication array with Suero in time and reported the situation here to Suero. It seems that he arranged this passage according to Suero's instructions. I don't know, but he did save a lot of people on our city wall. He also participated in organizing the retreat of many people below."

"I remember... Shi Hao sent someone to notify the communication station at the beginning."

Huang Zheng instinctively felt that something was wrong with this matter, but he was too seriously injured. He was lingering in his mind with doubts about this matter, and fell asleep on Ma Guoming's back.

When he woke up, he found that they were already outside the moat on the south side of Heimu Pass.

"Hurry up, the seriously injured should be put on the car first." Huang Zheng heard someone shouting. Several crystal cars were parked outside the pass. Ma Mingde sent Huang Zheng to a car equipped with a healing mage and put him on a makeshift bed. "Old Huang, you have to hold on! I just saw your battalion, and many people have been evacuated. I also have to go back to take care of my second battalion. They are a little scattered now, and I have to go and keep an eye on them."

Huang Zheng tilted his head and watched Ma Guoming leave in a hurry. He suddenly remembered that when he got on the car, he vaguely saw a familiar back standing in front of the iron bridge of the South Gate. He said to the mage on the crystal car, "Help me up."

"Captain Huang, you are seriously injured." The healing mage said.

"Help me up!" Huang Zheng insisted.

The mage couldn't persuade him, so he had to help him up. Huang Zheng saw through the glass window of the crystal car that it was Zhang Hong standing outside the bridge.

He was casting spells there. First, a corrosion spell corroded the steel structure in the middle of the bridge deck, and then a fireball exploded there. The iron bridge broke into two sections neatly and fell into the moat.

"Thanks to Zhang Hong this time. If it weren't for him, our retreat would not be so orderly and the speed would be much slower. It would be terrible if we were caught up by the imperials behind. He even prepared these crystal cars. Otherwise, you seriously injured people would suffer."

"When you retreated, didn't the imperials chase us at all?"

"There was a pursuit. We evacuated to the south wall, and the enemy's beast army caught up. However, Zhang Hong organized the retreating team in advance to build a defense line in front of the south wall and repelled the attack of the beast army. It seems that our troops did not suffer too much loss." The mage's eyes were full of admiration.

"Only the beast army chased us, not the black guards?" Huang Zheng asked.

"Maybe, but I didn't see much."

"Is that so!" Huang Zheng narrowed his eyes and whispered. He seemed to have lost interest in observing the outside world and lay down on his stomach. "Please help me treat the wound. I feel it collapsed again."

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An hour later, Emperor Alfred of the Purple Eagle Empire stood on the wall south of the Black Wood Pass, with Gandas and Lennit standing behind him.

Alfred said: "After so many years, the empire finally took this pass. My father, my grandfather, and my grandfather's grandfather all imagined standing here and looking at the territory of the kingdom from afar, but in the end, only I did it."

"This is inseparable from your wise decision and fearless courage. In my opinion, courage plays a more important role in this operation." Gandas said.

The emperor said: "Haha, strategies can be proposed by ministers, but courage must be possessed by the monarch himself. This is what my predecessors lacked."

Molet hurried over, knelt on one knee in front of the emperor, and reported: "Your Majesty, our losses have been counted."

"Speak!"

"One hundred and fifteen Black Guards died, including thirty-eight mages, forty-one bloodline warriors, and the rest were fighting warriors."

The emperor frowned and said: "In other words, almost half of the Black Guards were lost? How many of the sacrificed people were high-level?"

"High-level, there are twenty-five high-level, fifty-eight mid-level, and the rest are low-level." Molet said.

The emperor asked: "The high-level losses actually exceeded half?"

"Yes, yes."

"How many of the remaining people were injured?"

"About half..."

The emperor said: "It seems that I really underestimated the Chinese. Although these people were caught off guard by us. There are really more losses, and it is still unknown who will win and who will lose."

Gandas said: "Your Majesty, there is no need to be so pessimistic. After all, only we have achieved our strategic goal: occupying Heimu Pass. We must have won this battle. The most critical checkpoint on the continent is worth exchanging at any price."

"Really?" The emperor stared into the distance, not knowing what he was thinking.