Chapter 311: winter
The "silver coin" defense line in the Norma Mountains is very different from the previous "gold coin" defense line. The main body of this line of defense is not a solid city wall and a fortress, but a majestic mountain peak. Strictly speaking, it consists of mountain peaks and the ropeway used as a link between the peaks. These ropeways are made of special materials, which are extremely tough and hard to be injured by water and fire. There are also many enchanted pulleys, which travel like flying and can quickly transport soldiers and materials.
From this point of view, it is much stronger than the gold coin defense line that can only rely on city walls and tunnels. But the mountain is not as strong as the city wall. If the Thracians stared at the mountain with all their strength and attacked, it would not take many days to knock down a mountain. When the mountain collapses, the fortress on the top of the mountain will naturally follow, and there is no need to even attack the city.
Anyone with a discerning eye can see this hidden danger. Duke Norma, as the commander-in-chief of the Norma line of defense, even if he is not smart enough, there is always a shortage of smart people in his hands. He naturally knows that the silver coin line of defense is fatal.
But...he couldn't do anything better.
When the Norma Line of Defense was built, the "Gold Coin" area almost concentrated the power of the entire Molai Commercial Federation, and only those city walls that were stronger than steel were formed. Later, when the "silver coin" defense line was built, it was just the joint effort of several big nobles in the northern part of the federation. In addition to the good location, the only bright spot was those ropeways. thing.
The silver coin defense line is actually good, but the copper coin defense line has been built one after another by the Norma family over the years, and the defense power... is probably only equivalent to an ordinary city wall. Apart from a slight height advantage, it's hardly anything special.
If the three lines of defense were reversed, the copper coin defense line would not last even a few days, let alone a few months.
This is also the key reason why the Thracians were attacked on both sides in "history", the Norma line of defense would collapse quickly, and even tens of thousands of troops were dumped.
Fortunately, because of the influence of Panda and others, the Thracian diving troop, which should have captured Pollock City and attacked the Norma defense line from behind, changed its policy and instead went to harass the coastal ports of the Federation. The Marathon line of defense has long been unstoppable.
After the pandas and the others came to the Norma line of defense, they went through a little bit of scrutiny—mainly using lie detectors to check their reliability and testing their martial arts—before they were assigned to the front line.
With their abilities and identities, this is a matter of course. Most of the wars in the Western Continent have mercenaries fighting in the most dangerous places, while the regular armies of the lords will fight in relatively safe places. Just like when the death squad raided the super giant catapult, only three of the dozen or so death squad members were from the regular army.
However, Duke Norma was at least very comfortable in giving money. Every time the Volunteers fought, the bonus was paid immediately, without the slightest delay.
Although...because of prices and various other consumptions, the money that the volunteers made with their lives often cannot be saved...
Root (Panda's new pseudonym) and Hammer Hill (Horus's new pseudonym) have little interest in all kinds of luxury consumption, only Harold (Huck's new pseudonym) has some luxury - he likes food And the beauty, every time after the battle, the bonus is issued, and he will take a leave of absence for a few days, go to Norma City to spend a lot of time, and come back to continue the battle when the money is used up, which is also cool and refreshing.
As for Panda and Horus, in addition to fighting, they practice martial arts in the dormitory.
Both of them are of the martial arts type, and their levels are not much different. If they have nothing to do with each other, they can get a lot of experience points - at least a little more than their own training.
Of course, in addition to the competition, they are also honing their skills. This can only be practiced by oneself. Whether it is Panda's double sword or Horus' hammer shield, it takes repeated practice to be fully proficient. It's big enough, but it's always inferior in dexterity.
In contrast, Neckerhardt is much more relaxed. He is a long-range, after all, and the melee skills can be used at the critical moment as long as they can be used, and they can be pushed up by the skills without additional practice, so he lives at ease. Between the front line and the rear, he has accumulated some fame in the wind and moon places in Norma City.
During this time, the Thracians were naturally repeatedly attacking the Norma line of defense. After completely occupying the gold coin defense line, the super giant catapult is useless - no matter how high the catapult is, there is no way to throw stones at the silver coin fortress on the top of the mountain. They could only keep attacking the mountain, trying to knock down the peak, so that the fortress on the top of the mountain collapsed along with it.
Whenever the Thracians began to attack the mountain, the Morai elites would take the initiative to disrupt their actions. Relying on the ropeway, the troops of the silver coin defense line were mobilized very quickly, and there were almost no loopholes. Often Thracian talents set off from the foot of the mountain, and before they could reach the mountainside for construction, Molai elites had already rushed down from the mountain, and the two sides had a big fight.
This kind of battle is actually a disadvantage for Molai's side, but they have no choice. If they don't fight, will they just watch the Thracians destroy the mountain, and finally cause the mountain to collapse, and the fortress above it will be finished?
Molai lost more than Thrace in every battle. Every time the battle report was delivered, Duke Norma shook his head again and again after reading it.
Seeing that if the fight continues like this, the silver coin defense line will be in jeopardy. At this time, he came to the Norma defense line again, and presented the New Year's song and dance performance "Sing as You Want", the head of the song and dance troupe Semiramis, proposed a Interesting suggestion.
Pour a lot of water down from the top of the mountain, and then use climate magic to make the weather in Norma colder, making the mountains freeze everywhere, making it impossible to walk.
No matter how elite the Thracians are, it is absolutely impossible to fight and construct on the steep and icy slopes.
The Duke of Norma was overjoyed by this suggestion and implemented it immediately. In just a few days, several peaks bordering the Thracian position were covered with a layer of "armor" that reflected silver light in the sun.
That's a thick layer of ice.
Faced with these hard ice, the Thracians were stunned, and when they tried several times, they finally sighed helplessly.
Not only is it sturdy, but more importantly, it is not slippery. Not to mention fighting on the hillside, even if you want to climb up, it is not something that ordinary people can do.
Of course, the Thracian army also had masters who could walk on the ice, but they could never use those masters as migrant workers and let them dig mountains.
So this battle dragged on like this...