The sun is high

The shelling continued for a long, long time.

Xiuge did not calculate the specific time. He only knew that when he walked out of the depths of the trench, what he saw was already the setting sun.

When Xiuge moved his gaze downward from the horizon, what he saw was the Black Forest Town that had changed.

In this town, he could no longer see many complete buildings. The artillery bombardment that lasted all day created thick magic clouds, which filled the shabby town. At this time, There is no need for magical silence anymore, because the flow of magic in this entire area has been completely disrupted. Even if magic is used, the traces created will be obscured by the fog.

The floating mist slowly rises from between the broken buildings, forming strange totems one after another, while the light of the setting sun passes through these pictures and spreads its meager temperature on this piece of land. Broken earth.

Xiuge didn't have much time to watch the spectacle brought about by this large-scale magic bombardment, because he had to "dig in the soil" now.

At the end of the bombardment, a shell hit the trench. The violent explosion destroyed part of the solidification ceremony attached to the trench. The chain reaction caused a bunker deep in the trench to collapse. Thirty or forty members of the Jaeger Regiment were killed. soldiers were buried inside.

The tight time has brought many problems and hidden dangers to the construction of trenches. For the soldiers of the Chasseur Regiment, it is just the first time for them to use this new type of positions and fortifications, even for those who have already learned the relevant content in advance. There is no way for mages to do this perfectly.

Taking advantage of the rest time of the Terlander artillery, they must make up for the mistakes and deficiencies made in the previous construction of trenches as soon as possible.

With the operation of magic one after another, the soil was continuously transported out. It didn't take long for the collapsed room to be cleared out. Because it didn't take too long, the vast majority of these soldiers survived. They fell down, but there were still a few unlucky ones who were crushed tightly by the collapsing soil, and were probably suffocated to death by then.

Just thinking about this method of death makes people despair.

"Reinforce, continue to reinforce...don't save mana in these places."

Master Krauts conveyed the order: "We also need to build a temporary field hospital and ammunition warehouse in the third trench. No mistakes can be made in these places. If you don't want to be held accountable, every ceremony must be completed." Make it perfect!”

For the military mages of the Fifth Chasseur Regiment, this was undoubtedly a sleepless night.

Fortunately, as spell casters, their energy is more vigorous and abundant than ordinary soldiers. With the magic supply brought by high-quality magic crystals and the magic potions provided by alchemy doctors, they can be in a short period of time. Stay excited and awake.

Xiuge naturally has no need for these things. With the vitality brought by the "Walking Forest", he has very strong physical and mental energy, so his work efficiency is far better than that of ordinary mage accompanying the army.

However, the members of the Fifth Chasseur Regiment have become accustomed to his appearance, including the spies and veterans installed by the Ernst family.

They originally thought that Shuge, as a young generation with a prominent position in the Ernst family, only came here to gild and mix seniority, but Shuge's performance along the way was too good, and his abilities in some aspects were even better. It makes some soldiers feel ashamed, which makes many people believe that after the end of this operation, this young nobleman named Shuge Ernst is very likely to become the next batch of key training and training in the Kingdom of Votel. Promoted officers.

The sight of a large number of mages working with shovels and other tools is really shocking.

Amidst the floating magic light and shadow and the continuous collision of metal and soil, Xiuge lit a cigarette. There was no one else around him at this time, so he simply released the Touch of Charron, Directly improve your work efficiency to the limit.

Standing alone in the dim light, listening to the voices coming from other places, Xiuge felt a special sense of tranquility.

He just leaned against the wall of the trench, smoking and watching his mage's hands working with Charron's Touch.

The night sky in winter was very clean and clear, and the stars were extremely bright. So Xiuge raised his head and looked at the night sky. He was not very interested in astronomy in the past, so he could not distinguish between Fanen's starry sky and his past world. There was no specific difference in the night sky. He felt that he was simply looking for a sense of familiarity and tranquility in that clean picture.

There were footsteps from the other end of the trench, so Shuge immediately restrained his touch from Charron and looked towards the direction of the sound while holding the smoke.

Soon, the light of a lantern illuminated Wei Lin's figure.

She walked over quietly, stood next to Xiuge, and her eyes briefly stayed on the cigarette between his fingers for two seconds.

But then, she said: "There is a temporary order, and we need to go to Black Forest Castle tonight."

"Black Forest Castle?"

Xiuge was a little confused: "What are you going to do there?"

"While inspecting the Black Forest Fort, our people discovered some weapons reserves left by the Delander Corps in the past, including a dozen crystal cannons. Although they are all old models, they are exactly what we are missing now."

Wei Lin said slowly: "Major Alfred believes that tomorrow the Delans army is likely to start advancing after one or two rounds of artillery bombardment. By then they will discover the exact location of our position and launch a formal attack. If our position could be supported by artillery at that time, everything would be much easier."

As she said that, she tilted her head: "It's time to set off now. Our current means of transportation are very scarce, so we may even use horses. In short, time is tight, let's go."

Upon hearing this, Shuge had no choice but to disband his magic and hand over the tools to several soldiers from the Chasseur Regiment who came to take over his work.

Soon, a team quietly left the position of the 5th Chasseur Regiment and headed in the direction of Black Forest Castle.

This journey is not absolutely safe. Although the road between the Chasseur Regiment's position and Black Forest Castle has been cleared several times before, under the current circumstances, no one can say whether the Delans will send small Groups of troops detoured back to such a sensitive place to carry out operations. After all, everyone knew that the results of the Fifth Chasseur Regiment's operations in the Black Forest area would determine the Kingdom of Votel's subsequent action plan in this area.

Both sides are scrambling for time. The 5th Chasseur Regiment needs to ensure the transportation routes for follow-up reinforcements and supplies, and continue to control the roads along the Black Forest River, while the Deland Army needs to find a way to defeat the enemy before more Votel troops arrive to support them. Take back control of important roads and bridges.

In this context, it is difficult to say whether the Delan people will take any special actions.

However, compared to staying in the trenches and facing the shelling and charges of the Delans, the mission Shuge is currently accepting is already very safe. Among this team, Shuge even saw those veterans who were specially used to protect his own safety. , obviously this task is some small "preferential treatment" provided by Major Alfred and Master Krauts within a reasonable range.

Along with the team heading to Black Forest Castle, there are also some alchemical doctors and soldiers injured in today's shelling. These soldiers are no longer able to fight in a short period of time. They will be placed in the relatively safe Black Forest Castle. Get treatment and be ready for transfer.

Many details show that Alfred and other officers are not so optimistic about the battle that the 5th Chasseur Regiment will face next. The Chasseur Regiment is not an expert in defense, and the weapons they bring are not enough for them to support a complete defense. Position, however, in the current strategic plan of the Kingdom of Votel, the Fifth Chasseur Regiment had to temporarily change its combat style and rely on defensive positions to meet enemies several times their size.

Under the darkness of night, Shuge, who was riding a horse, could see the shadow of the Black Forest Castle on the distant hills.

He squinted his eyes and carefully looked at the huge castle that exuded an aristocratic and magical aura.

It should be very reasonable to match it with the hills and forests, but when Shuge turned his head and looked at the dilapidated town in the distance with the magic mist floating in it, and the river that had witnessed the roar of heavy machine guns a few days ago, But I feel that this castle is so...

Not in tune.

It looks like a signpost erected at the junction of the times, eye-catching and subtle.

The nearby plain should have been a vast farmland. The soil quality on the Goddess Plain is very good and is very suitable for the development of agriculture. Even though these farmland are now dyed white due to snowfall, the snow layer is not too thick in places. , Xiuge could still see the black fertile soil secretly extending from beneath the snow from time to time.

Seeing such soil, Shuge could somewhat understand the obsession in the hearts of the people of St. Steele.

Although St. Steele's territory is vast, most of it is frozen soil in the northern snowfields. Although that kind of place is rich in magic crystal minerals, mining it is time-consuming, laborious, and sometimes very life-consuming. , among the three kingdoms on the plateau, only the Saint Steele royal family took the risk of national subjugation to participate in this war... In Shuge's heart, there is even a conjecture that once Saint Steele If the kingdom is in a moment of real crisis, then the first person to take action against it will most likely not be the peace between the Plains Kingdoms and Merlin.

But its current plateau allies.

"If these farmlands are bombed by crystalline bombs, the magic power in the soil will be out of control, right?"

"um, yes."

Wei Lin nodded: "If high-power crystal shells are used, their magic explosion may even completely change the soil quality here."

"What a wonderful land, it would be a shame if that happened."

Xiuge sighed softly, but this sentence attracted a somewhat surprised look from Wei Lin.

Of course she agreed with Shuge's words, but she felt strange that as Shuge's identity, it seemed that he should not express such emotion... Even if he was an illegitimate son of the Ernst family, in the past You should not have any special feelings towards agriculture.

But considering that her friend and student already had enough quirks, Weilin was too lazy to study and care about them one by one.

After leaving the surveillance range of the Fifth Chasseur Regiment's position, the accompanying mages in the team, including Wei Lin, deliberately called out their magic summons. Soon, these magical creatures ran in different directions. Or fly away, the purpose of their existence is to detect the traces of magic in the area near the road.

Shuge summoned the rats of the Ernst family that had been trapped in the metal disc for a long time. These magical rats with human will and wisdom quickly disappeared into the darkness. These rats in the underground time Souls that have been depressed for a hundred years like this kind of "letting go" activities very much, and they are also happy to help their family and country strive for more benefits and honors.

As for the running rat...

Although it has been clamoring in Xiuge's spiritual world to come out for a walk, Xiuge did not do so. After all, this guy's size is really beyond the specifications of ordinary magical creatures. Once it starts to have fun, the movement will But it's so big that no ordinary steam vehicle can match it.

Soon, a lot of information in a quite large area was passed on by the Ernst family's magic rats. As these rats explored in detail, Shuge's expression began to gradually change - the rats were in the distance. Many abnormal traces were found very close to the road. In a snowdrift, these rats even found abandoned magic crystals.

This kind of thing is very familiar to cultivators. It is the waste produced by spellcasters after they have absorbed the magic power from it. Moreover, the people who discarded this thing also did some cover-up, which means that the users of these crystals are deliberately Cover your tracks.

So Xiuge immediately grabbed Wei Lin and asked, "Do we have any mage who is acting alone in this area?"

Wei Lin quickly shook her head: "We only set up reconnaissance posts on the periphery of these areas. There will be no military mages acting alone here. This is against military regulations... Is there something abnormal?"

So Shuge immediately informed Wei Lin of his discovery, and at the same time he ordered the rats to directly bring back the discarded magic crystals.

Wei Lin held the crystal in her hand, and after quickly observing and sensing it, her expression immediately became serious.

"The concentration of magic power is very high. It is a high-quality crystal produced in the snow in the north. Even if it is abandoned, there is still a lot of magic power left in it. This is an extremely luxurious way to use it... I can be sure that this is not what we mages will do. thing."