Chapter 322 Just throw it away

Chapter 322 Just throw it away

It's light and dark.

With the withdrawal last night, Demir led the army with little rest and retreated all the way east.

Although it successfully merged with the 50,000 troops who came for follow-up support.

But thinking of the terrifying firepower of the Imperial Army, Demir couldn't help but feel a little more worried.

The problem now is that Noxus seems to have no way to deal with this level of firepower.

"Has the news about Nashat come back?"

He got off his horse and asked the adjutant.

It has been a day since Nashat led his army to set off. According to the time, they should have sent information at this time.

The only thing he can count on now is Nashat.

If he successfully raided another German army, quickly retreated, and attacked from both sides, he would have a chance to suppress the Imperial Prince's Army.

As he finished speaking, he saw a blue-winged bird flying quickly from the horizon, and then landed on someone's shoulder.

There was a message tied to its leg, obviously from Nashat.

Without thinking too much, Demir stepped forward, took down the letter, then opened his eyes and put it on.

Just when he saw the first line of words, his whole body felt like a huge blow, and his eyes widened in disbelief.

When the surrounding adjutants saw this, they all had a bad premonition.

"The German army set up an ambush in advance and our army suffered heavy losses. Lord Nashat died."

Demir read this sentence in a daze, his mind filled with thoughts of impossibility.

how could be?

How could the German army set up an ambush in advance?

How did they know?

Nashat is also dead. He has followed me for many years and won so many battles with me. Why did he die so suddenly today?

He continued to look down.

"Our army lost more than 70,000 people in the battle."

This number looked extremely dazzling. Seventy thousand people died in less than half a day.

Demir's hand unconsciously tightened and he continued to look down.

"I suspect that Demacia has a method of summoning people in a very short time."

Demir read this sentence again and felt cold in his heart.

This is the only possibility.

He has fought so many battles over the years and has almost never made a mistake in judgment.

It was the same this time. According to his judgment, Nashat led his army just in time to meet another German army. If the other party did not get the news in advance to set up an ambush, then Nashat's winning rate would be extremely high.

Even though these German soldiers held heavy gunpowder weapons.

Demir finally realized that he had made a miscalculation. Demacia's preparations for attacking Noxus were far more complete than he imagined.

If Demacia really had this method of rapid communication, it would be almost impossible for Noxus to win against Demacia due to the information gap.

Although it has not been confirmed, Demir knows that they cannot afford to gamble.

This battle resulted in a direct loss of 70,000 troops, while Demacia had almost zero casualties. This huge gap in battle loss ratio was extremely terrifying in history.

"Send a message to the Immortal Fortress and report all the information we have learned. This matter is of vital importance and there must be no mistakes!"

Demir handed the letter to the adjutant, his clenched fists slowly unclenched, his eyes full of unwillingness.

He actually couldn't think of a way to deal with Demacia's offensive.

At the same time, he also knew that because of his wrong judgment, the Immortal Fortress might impose punishment.

"General, where are these people?"

An adjutant came forward and asked Demir.

Those who were redeemed were still in the procession, numbering tens of thousands.

The Immortal Fortress means to use them as cannon fodder, and now these people can only take orders from Demir.

From a distance, Demir glanced at the faces one by one and sighed: "Let them go eastward, away from the war-torn areas."

This order is tantamount to letting these people go.

These people are originally the people of Noxus, and they naturally have the right to escape in times of war.

Even if Demir could force them to serve as cannon fodder, they could deceive as many shells from the Imperial Army as possible.

But what's the use?

Seeing the power of artillery with his own eyes, Demir knew that this was just to improve Demacia's record.

The real war has to be left to them, the fighters.

But Demir was still worried about how to deal with Demacia next.

"We cannot confront them head-on. We can only retreat all the way, delaying as much time as possible, waiting for news from the Immortal Fortress."

Demir sighed again and gave the order.

Now with the firepower of the Imperial Army, a head-on confrontation is tantamount to asking for trouble.

Five days later.

Immortal Fortress.

The urgent message from the border was sent straight into the conference hall.

On the throne, Darkwill listened with a gloomy expression as the newspaper officer slowly read out the contents of the letter.

The surrounding ministers also frowned and looked serious when they heard this.

Judging from this urgent letter, the situation on the western border is much more serious than they imagined.

"We underestimated Demacia! If they dare to come, they are obviously well prepared!"

"No wonder they dare to trade prisoners of war as soon as the war starts. They have gunpowder in hand and are not afraid of how much cannon fodder they have."

"And the prisoners they traded were all old, weak, sick, disabled, women, and children."

"Demir was sloppy now and lost 70,000 troops overnight."

"How should we deal with this matter?"

After listening, the ministers kept talking loudly. They thought it was good news, but they didn't expect it to be bad news.

Demir was beaten so embarrassingly in his first battle.

However, after listening to the content of the letter, they knew that Demir was probably not to blame.

He can indeed be more steady, but no matter how steady he is, he will still face Demacia's heavy gunpowder.

It can be said that the combat power of both sides at this moment is not on the same level.

While they were still shooting with bows, crossbows, and catapults, the opponent was already firing with artillery fire, and the power of any cannonball could crush the catapult.

More importantly, judging from the information in the letter, the number of artillery pieces Demacia prepared this time is hard to estimate.

Not to mention, they also have another kind of weapon, firearms.

Darkwill asked in a deep voice: "Where is our gunpowder? How far has it been developed?"

A minister stood up and said: "It is still in the testing stage, and there are still many unstable factors. It is indeed more powerful, but it is extremely easy to damage, and the range is not far enough, and there is a risk of exploding the barrel."

As a country that relies on invasion for its livelihood, Noxus naturally learned about gunpowder as a weapon early on.

It's just that the technology he snatched was not mature enough after all, and Darkwill was very ambitious and wanted to develop more powerful and longer-range gunpowder weapons.

In fact, in the recent stage, when he sent an army to invade Ionia, he had begun to use an artillery technology stolen from Bilgewater.

In some places, methods stolen from Zaun were tried.

The latter is more destructive and powerful, but the price is also extremely high. It will even devour the user himself. It can be said that it hurts the enemy a thousand times and damages itself a thousand times, and the damage to the landscape environment is far beyond expectation.

At present, there is no significance to continue transformation and research and development, so the focus of ordnance research and development has always been on gunpowder.

They followed the methods of Bilgewater and added their own ideas in an attempt to create a more powerful type.

However, there are still many problems.

But he didn't expect that Demacia would now come to the door with new gunpowder technology.

You know, Demacia is recognized as aloof and withdrawn in Runeterra.

However, they do have the ability to be aloof and do not easily interact with the outside world, whether it is trade or other things, and are almost isolated from the world.

Gradually, many places in Runeterra also use "isolationism" to refer to Demacia.

However, it would not be an exaggeration to say that such a lonely place with backward information has mastered cutting-edge gunpowder technology.

At this time, after coming back from his thoughts, Darkwill looked at the minister who had just spoken and said calmly: "That's not what I want to hear. You just need to tell me, can it stop Demacia's offensive?"

The minister hesitated for a moment and nodded: "If you don't consider the risk, it should be able to compete with Demacia's artillery. We can also settle for the next best thing and use ordinary artillery."

"That's good." Darkwill nodded and ordered: "We need both, manufacture them in batches and ship them to the border quickly."

The minister hesitated to speak, but after thinking about it he lowered his head: "Yes."

There is really nothing we can do now.

Although their own artillery is risky, if they don't use it, they can only watch Demacia continue to bombard Noxus' city.

If it is enabled, it may still be able to compete with it.

Looking at the ministers below, Darkwill asked: "Where is Kled? Have you found him?"

A minister soon replied: "His traces have been found so far, and I believe he will be found soon."

"After you find it, tell him to go to the battlefield quickly." Darkwill nodded slightly and continued to ask: "Where is Demacia now?"

A minister replied: "According to Demacia's current marching speed, they have just passed Bruan City. In less than half a month, they will probably reach the boundary of Grovet."

Darkwill was thoughtful after hearing the words, and then ordered: "Inform the Magic Academy and ask them to send an additional team of mages to support the border town."

Noxus has a magic academy that specializes in magic, and every year it recruits private mages with high salaries.

Naturally, there are many mages who have joined over the years.

Although Demacia is famous for its forbidden magic, and also has the 'Forbidden Magic Stone', a strange stone that can resist magic, this does not mean that they are not afraid of magic at all.

It is no exaggeration to say that a powerful mage can defeat a battle group on the battlefield.

Therefore, it is still necessary to send them there.

After thinking about it, Darkwill continued to order: "Expand recruitment efforts, and within twenty days, send another 100,000 troops to support the border."

In fact, recruitment has already begun in various cities, and part of the troops for subsequent support are currently recruited soldiers.

Now that they are continuing to expand their recruitment efforts, it means they need more people to fill the ranks.

At this time, a large part of the army was on the way to invade Ionia, but judging from Darkwill's intentions, he still did not intend to take it back.

Many ministers thought for a while but still did not speak.

Because they know that even if they say it, it will be useless.

Darkwill must have thought of what they wanted to say, but he didn't do it, and he already explained the answer.

The Noxians were not averse to recruiting troops, because there were periods when it was not easy for ordinary people to enlist.

After joining the army, it means having the opportunity to rise to fame. Every Noxian has a dream of becoming the next Darius.

But what happens now?

Recruitment did not start when Demacia came over, but has been ongoing, but the intensity has continued to increase.

Because people are needed in many places, southeast, northwest.

Every year, tens of thousands of people with dreams join the army.

However, at present, Darkwill insists on attacking Ionia, and on the other hand, he recruits a large number of troops to intercept Demacia, just like filling a hole. If this continues, the voices of dissatisfaction among the people will only increase.

However, in Darkwill's view, these things are not important.

The voices of dissatisfaction only need one political achievement to silence them.

He attacked and defended at the same time, whether it was capturing Ionia or repelling Demacia, they were all achievements.

If you make one, you can shut up those mouths.

Furthermore, where is Demacia today?

They broke through the western defense line and now probably reached the boundary of Bruan City.

And this area is like a little finger in the vast territory of Noxus.

Just throw it away.

Converted into a ratio, it may not even be one-thirtieth.

And this was only because they had poor information and launched the raid too quickly, so Noxus was unable to react in time.

Now that Noxus is ready, Demacia will naturally not be so relaxed.

To put it bluntly, Darkwill admitted that there were some threats to Demacia at the moment, but compared with the invasion of Ionia, it seemed less important.

He has now sent additional troops there, activated the gunpowder he was developing, and also sent a team of mages.

It's enough to show that he has begun to take this matter seriously.

And currently, Darkwill is not the only one who has this idea.

Including some ministers, they all believed that although they had suffered a temporary defeat at the hands of Demacia, it was because they had not taken it seriously yet.

Noxus has dominated Runeterra for so many years. When has it ever been wronged?

A minister stood up and said: "If these gunpowder weapons brought by Demacia this time can be captured, they will still be of great help to us."

"Yes, gunpowder is more powerful than normal cold weapons, and the most important thing is that it is something that can explode with powerful power in the hands of ordinary people."

Another minister stood up: "If we can master this technology, it will be a big improvement for us."

Runeterra has extraordinary power, but after all, it is only a small number, and not just anyone can get in and out of the enemy army.

Gunpowder may not be a threat to some powerful people, but in this case it is not as good as cold weapons.

However, on a battlefield with a large number of people, the power of gunpowder is reflected.

This kind of thing can be controlled by ordinary people without special training. Most people can master it quickly, and it can be manufactured in batches.

Although I don't know why Demacia's gunpowder technology suddenly improved so quickly, it would still be very helpful to Noxus if they could capture the opponent's gunpowder weapons and study them in this battle.

The ministers kept discussing and discussing.

In their opinion, this Demacia march will probably end at Grovet.

The next thing they have to consider is how to fight back.

As expected, Demacia was still sending troops at this time, stationed all the way on the city they had conquered.

How to regain these lost territories is the next question they have to consider.