Chapter 1307 - 560: Siege Strategies (Part 2)

Chapter 1307: Chapter 560: Siege Strategies (Part 2)

By the way, King of the Forest Olein has also left, leaving Alaros in command of the army, along with Duke Hagen of Jisoleox and Duke Bodrick of Boldro who had other matters to attend to.

In contrast, Temple Knight Alfred led a mixed team of Paladins and Ascetic Monks to support Laine. Alfred stated, "I also want to contribute to reclaiming Musillon and defeating the Undead."

Sounds came from outside the tent, and both Laine and Veronica focused their gaze on the doorway to the inner room.

"Well, you two are just here leisurely drinking juice and chatting while I have to run back and forth to install air conditioning for them." The tall figure of the female sorcerer appeared at the doorway of the inner room. Upon seeing Laine and Veronica leisurely chatting and enjoying cold drinks, Teresa felt quite irritated and placed her hands on her hips: "Get me one too!"

"Coming, coming." Laine stood up, smiling as he took the juice bottle from the table, added ice cubes to a mug, and poured Teresa a full glass: "Great job!"

The female sorcerer was wearing a white, slim-fit, patterned shirt paired with tight black pants, exuding a strong career woman’s aura. She reached out to take the cup from Laine’s hand and downed the juice in one gulp, sighing in relief: "Phew, it’s such hot weather, I don’t even want to move."

"Then I permit you to rest until the evening." Laine said with a smile: "This is a promise directly from the Duke of Musillon!"

"Hmph~ I rest whenever I want, why do I need your permission!" Teresa gave Laine a scornful look and sat naturally on the soft, large bed, kicking off her leather boots: "Having to be outside in this weather is truly irritating."

"This is Musillon, Trovik~," Veronica teased, "The Duke is right in front of you, you’re so arrogant on the Duke’s land, be careful you might get punished, even if you’re Laine’s female courtier, you’d be ’punished’ severely!"

"If he wants to punish, let him punish, what’s it got to do with you?" Teresa immediately associated Laine’s "punishment" with recent events, which had become quite frequent, and she quickly retorted: "This has nothing to do with you, Veronica!"

"Heh~ forget it, in this weather, I’m too lazy to argue with you." Veronica took a gratifying sip of her juice: "What news does our little princess bring us?"

"Well, Teresa, have the scouts reported anything?" Laine nodded, his concern focused on this issue.

"Indeed, the Wood Elves have their strengths." Teresa nodded, feeling quite proud as she recounted her observations: "Alaros, along with the Rangers and Desolate Forest Rangers, investigated along the Grismore River. They uncovered the roots of the Era Oak and astonishingly found a concealed underground river leading directly beneath the walls of Musillon. The Undead were building an underground canal there."

"An underground canal..." Laine’s eyes lit up, contemplating the issue carefully.

"That’s right, an underground canal." The female sorcerer was quite pleased with this finding, speaking softly: "The water flow of the canal is rapid, practically impossible for mortals to pass through, but I have a suggestion, Laine. I can freeze the river water, create an ice surge, backflood the canal, and flood Musillon!"

"Ice surge?" Laine’s formerly relaxed expression gradually turned serious.

"Ice surge? Trovik is really daydreaming." Upon hearing the news, Veronica immediately got up, put on her high heels, and paced around the room. The Jialan Witch pondered for five minutes before saying decisively: "No, we shouldn’t create an ice surge. We should temporarily open the frozen underground river, then transport the explosive powder I created into the canal!"

"Use the powder to blow up the walls?" Laine considered carefully and stood up: "Okay, Teresa, you rest well first, and by evening, I’ll convene everyone for a meeting to discuss what to do!"

"Alright." The female sorcerer was indeed exhausted and wanted to close her eyes for a while.

"Get up, Trovik." Who’d have thought Veronica would come to the bedside, her cheeks slightly flushed: "Get up quickly!"

"What are you up to now, Veronica?" the female sorcerer asked quizzically.

"You’re sitting on my stuff!" Veronica gestured for Teresa to get up. The Jialan Witch reached under the covers and pulled out a pair of flesh-colored pantyhose, then sat down and slowly put them on: "Dammit, these pantyhose are expensive, and you almost ruined them by sitting on them."

"???!" Teresa’s face suddenly turned red: "You guys..."

"Hehehe, dear Teresa, have a good rest." Laine gently patted the sorcerer’s shoulder and kissed her on the lips: "Let’s discuss what to do at the meeting in the evening."

"Hm."

...I’m the separator for what’s to discuss next...

That evening, in the camp, all the Holy Grail Knights, Laine’s two female courtiers, King Belgar Iron Hammer of Eight Peaks, Lord Alaros of Tasien Forest, and the newly arrived Temple Knight Alfred, gathered together to discuss the new military situation.

"Thanks to Lord Alaros and his Rangers’ help, we have scouted out an underground canal beneath the Musillon city wall." Laine sat in the center, speaking with a serious tone: "Regarding this canal, we have two plans."

"Firstly, Lady Teresa Trovik can create an ice surge by freezing the upper reaches of the Grismore River. By then forcing a sufficient amount of river water through the backflooding, we could flood the entire Musillon castle."

"You’re talking about a plan to flood Musillon?" Francois nodded, the father-in-law thought for a while, deciding not to immediately express his stance: "Then what’s the second plan?"

"The second plan was proposed by Lady Veronica Bernadotte. We could transport a large amount of explosive powder into the canal and detonate it. Teresa will help us by temporarily opening the frozen canal. After gathering enough fire magic element-infused powder, we ignite the explosives to collapse the walls." Laine continued: "Aside from these two plans, does anyone else have other opinions?"

"Then let’s blow them up!" Bohemond was the first to voice his opinion, exclaiming loudly: "Bring the walls down! Knights charge right in! I refuse to believe the Undead could resist!"

"Alright." Laine acknowledged, shifting his gaze toward Belgar Iron Hammer, renowned for his siege expertise; he sought more opinions: "Brother Belgar, what’s your take?"

"Oh ho~" Belgar gently stroked his white beard, contemplating before speaking: "Listen, Brother Laine, flooding has its advantages, blowing up has its advantages, let me elaborate."

"If we create an ice surge and flood Musillon, the advantage is that the entire city would be submerged. Over time, the Undead army would suffer immense damage. Moreover, we wouldn’t need to lose too many troops to capture the castle. The drawbacks are, firstly, the flooding would take a long time; we’d need to be prepared for an extended siege of Musillon. Secondly, the Undead are not overly afraid of flooding, and most of those we drown might be civilians."

"If we choose to use powder to blow up the walls, the advantage is that it works quickly and is efficient. We could engage the Undead in battle immediately. The disadvantage is that this method doesn’t help us during the siege, as we can’t weaken the Undead or reduce their numbers. Even if we breach the walls, we would still face a difficult battle."

"It’s up to you, Brother Laine, to decide." Belgar ended with a summary.

The group fell into silence, with Laine carefully weighing the pros and cons.

"I suggest using explosives," Francois spoke, shaking his head: "We cannot afford to wait any longer, Laine, a swift conclusion is necessary. Our food reserves have greatly diminished. A prolonged siege due to the flooding would be uncertain as to how long it would take, and the soldiers are weary from the extensive battles. We should resolve it quickly."

"Furthermore, there are still quite a few living people in the castle." Laine nodded, pondering Francois’ words felt reasonable: "Flooding takes too long, which doesn’t align with our goal of ending the war swiftly, and our food is dwindling, we cannot delay any longer."

With that, Laine stood up: "I’ve decided to use explosives to breach the walls!"

"Yes, sir!" everyone responded loudly. Belgar immediately began formulating the siege plan, considering how much explosive powder was needed, how long to freeze the canal, how to deceive the vampire scouts, and the optimal time to act.

At this moment, a fully armed figure stepped out from the crowd, with blonde hair, blue eyes, and a face full of sunshine and enthusiasm.

"Duke Laine, leave the task of igniting the explosives to me!"