Chapter 979 — The Slide

Typhon had declared war.

Ma Qi stood in the highest tower room of Longwind Fortress, his gaze fixed through the crystal-glass window toward the direction of the Typhon Empire, his face drawn taut, silent for a long while.

The order from the imperial capital and Typhon's declaration of war lay separately on the table beside his hand.

A vast vortex had already taken shape. Whether it was gods or Typhon's war party that had stirred it no longer mattered; what mattered was that once a great vortex begins to exert its power, everyone caught within it seems to have precious little choice—perhaps this really was the mad, runaway faith of the God of War driving events, but to Cecil's soldiers it made no difference. An enemy commanded by an emperor and an enemy commanded by a god were both enemies, and the enemy lay in the direction of Winterwolf Fortress.

Intelligence showed that the Winterwolf defense line had been conducting large-scale military movements since last night—a massive main force was assembling; even Winterfort's Black Flag battle mage corps was moving toward the border. Reports from inside Typhon further suggested that several reserve legions might have received orders from Aldernan. The last piece of intelligence was vague, yet it already served as circumstantial proof of the Typhon war intent.

Cecil's advantage now was the speed of its military actions.

Ma Qi lowered his head. On the table before him lay spread the tactical map of the Longwind–Winterwolf region. Treaty Castle stood out conspicuously in the central buffer zone, and beside that fortress—symbol of peace between the two nations—several blue flags bearing Cecil's mark were now planted on the map.

……

On the open ground beside Treaty Castle, a mechanized force of several hundred tanks of various types, multi-purpose infantry fighting vehicles, and troop carriers stood in the cold wind. Cecil's banner—blue field and gold pattern—flew high in the winter sky. The fortress, originally garrisoned jointly by both nations, had now fallen entirely into Cecil's hands. The few Typhon troops originally stationed there had offered almost no resistance before becoming prisoners of war—their flags had been thrown to the ground, and as for them… they likely still had not figured out what had happened.

Inside an armored command vehicle, Philip exhaled softly, his expression gradually turning grim and solemn.

A staff officer entered the command vehicle, trailing the cold air from outside. He hurried to Philip's side and asked in a low voice, "General, the next step—"

"Launch a lightning assault on Winterwolf Fortress before dusk—heavy artillery bombardment, cluster advance, do not be stingy with ammunition. Our mission is to destroy the core of their border defense before the main Typhon force completes its movement and assembly—as for the specifics, execute according to the second plan we finalized earlier."

"Yes, General!"

In the cold wind, the surging power of magic engines was released one after another. Bearings rotated, connecting rods worked, tracks crushed the hard and barren earth, and vehicle after vehicle let out a low rumble as they began to move toward the Typhon defense line.

……

The Cecil forces had come.

Several bursts of magical flame rose from the hilly terrain to the northwest, and within the following minutes, flames and the flash of explosions began to rise from that direction. After a brief delay, faint rumbling could be heard from afar on the walls of Winterwolf Fortress. Those low, distant rumbles made the soldiers somewhat tense—and made An Luo's expression darker still.

The young wolf general left the window and returned to the long table where the large tactical map was laid out. She looked at a senior officer in the castle: "Our mobile troops stationed at Little Triangle Slope have engaged the Cecilians."

The officer was just pulling his gaze away from the tactical map. He looked into An Luo's eyes, his expression very serious: "It is no short distance from Treaty Castle to Little Triangle Slope—even a knight order marching at high speed would need two hours to arrive. The Cecilians are faster than we imagined."

"They move mainly by war machine—all kinds of war machines," An Luo said, looking at her subordinate. "They are carriers, weapons, and sturdy fortresses all at once."

"According to current intelligence, unless a knight force pre-charges its energy and, with the combined power of joint shields and thermal cones, breaks the Cecilians' 'steel advance tactic' in a single blow, regular troops will find themselves at a severe disadvantage in any frontal engagement with those war machines. On the other hand, mechanized battle mage units can fight those machines through flexible tactics and long-range attacks—but only fight them; there is no clear advantage. We need—"

Just then, hurried footsteps suddenly sounded from outside the door, and the voice of a messenger followed, cutting off the officer mid-sentence: "General! The Count of Winterfort and the Black Flag Mage Corps have arrived! The Count is outside right now."

An Luo looked up at once: "Bring the Count of Winterfort in immediately!"

Amid steady, powerful footsteps, Count Palin Winterfort stepped into the room, clad in a deep blue robe of stars, a gem-tipped short staff and a black grimoire at his waist. At the sight of this familiar elder, An Luo visibly relaxed, and she rose to meet him: "Count Winterfort—we have been waiting for you."

"I hope I have not missed anything," Count Winterfort said with a nod. "I hear the Cecilians have begun their attack."

"Yes, the attack has begun, and I fear they will reach the Winterwolf defense line before long," An Luo said frankly. "Our mobile troops at Little Triangle Slope have already made contact with them."

Palin Winterfort gave a low "mm," then asked, "Apart from the Black Flag, which other units are in position?"

"The Seventeenth and Twenty-Second National Knight Regiments from Brow Valley arrived at Winterwolf Fortress before noon, and then there is your Black Flag Mage Corps—the remaining units are still on the road; the earliest of them likely will not arrive until this time tomorrow."

"Then the Cecilians will certainly try to storm Winterwolf Fortress before dusk today, to collapse this defense line in advance," Palin Winterfort said at once. "Winterwolf Fortress is the only gateway into the empire from the northwest. The Cecilians will not want to see it become a hard stone in their path…"

A few officers in the room could not help exchanging a few words in low voices, but the room soon fell silent again.

To storm and destroy a fortified stronghold with shields and enchanted walls within a single day and night was almost unthinkable under the old order of war. Yet the people sitting here were no ignorant country folk; every one of them had studied the various intelligence reports coming out of Cecil, and so they knew full well—the Cecilians had not only done it before, they had succeeded more than once.

A series of plans and simulations flashed swiftly through An Luo's mind, and she could not help frowning as she sighed: "All of this is too far beyond expectation. Our preparations are insufficient…"

"It is not only beyond our expectations—I believe it is the same for the Cecilians," Palin Winterfort said mildly. "This is a war no one was prepared for. Everyone stands on the same starting line. Once the vortex takes shape, everyone will be drawn in, whether they will it or not. So we may be cautious and serious, but there is no need to be so pessimistic."

An Luo exhaled and nodded: "That is true. The Cecilians come with great force, but…"