The battle is over.
The southern city wall of Rock Fortress was completely unable to withstand the bombardment of heavy magic crystal shells after losing its shield protection. Facts have proved that when fighting against solid and rigid targets like the city wall, magic crystal shells played a better role than the calibrator. The higher damage efficiency of the beam - Sir Maryland once believed that the Rock Fortress could still resist for dozens of minutes after the shield was extinguished, but in the end it turned out that he had miscalculated the different effects of the shells and energy beams: the wall finally only persisted sixteen minutes.
The heavy gate of the fortress has completely collapsed during the bombardment. Also collapsed are the hundreds of meters of walls extending out on both sides of the gate. All arrow towers, prisms and external mage towers within this range have collapsed. They were all reduced to ashes, and the outer city area and the southern inner city area behind the wall were also damaged to varying degrees. Military camps, armories and other facilities concentrated between the first and second city walls were razed to the ground.
This is a degree of destruction that would never occur in a traditional noble war: Cecil’s army almost ended the battle with the defense facilities of the fortress completely smashed, leaving no damage to the Rock Fortress at all. leave no room for stalemate and maneuvering.
After the bombardment ended, Cecil's 1st and 2nd Combat Regiments led by Knight Philip and Knight Walder Perich began to advance towards the fortress and arrived at the fortress that had lost its combat effectiveness in the evening. The fortress, and what made Knight Walder sigh the most was that his army spent more time on the road to receive the results of the victory than it took to destroy the fortress's defenses.
After the First and Second Legions entered the Rock Fortress, they encountered almost no resistance - in fact, there was no resistance at all. If it must be said, a frightened and crazy pony suddenly emerged from the ruins. Rushing out is probably the only enemy the soldiers face.
On the evening of the 58th of the Fire Month in Anzu 736, the flag representing the Anzu royal family fluttered and fell from the flagpole in front of the Rock Fortress Castle. The sword and plow marks of the Cecil family have special significance in this place. Flowing above the fortress.
Gawain's boots stepped on the fortress' stone road that still seemed to be trembling with warmth. On both sides of him were ruins and buildings that were still emitting smoke. His face looked horrified and smoky. The miserable fortress soldiers stood on both sides of the road. When Cecil's flag passed in front of them, these people prostrated on the ground to show their submission.
"All of them will be temporarily imprisoned in the dungeon below the castle. If there are not enough rooms, they will be imprisoned in a strong building in the inner city." Gawain whispered to the knight Philip beside him. "It is strictly forbidden to torture prisoners and prisoners." Kill the wounded and send medical teams to treat them - these people will be part of Cecil's army." Philip stood up and saluted: "Understood"
Disarmed. Sir Maryland, who looked defeated, was escorted by several Cecil soldiers and walked beside Gawain. Hearing what Gawain told Philip, he couldn't help but raise his head, with a little surprise in his eyes: "No. I think you still abide by the noble spirit..."
"The prohibition of mistreating prisoners has nothing to do with the so-called noble spirit." Gawain glanced at the former commander. Although the other man was a respectable knight, he was obviously a traditional nobleman. "What I prohibit The tortured 'captives' include not only knights and nobles."
Sir Maryland opened his mouth, but in the end he said nothing and just lowered his head again.
Gawain looked at the knight Walder Perici on the other side. He nodded to the old knight: "Take people to check the entire inner city and the secret passages and cellars under the castle. Search them all. Throughout the city, prevent anyone from hiding. In addition, you must cooperate with Knight Philip to inventory the materials and houses in the city and report in time. Don’t forget to emphasize military discipline during this process: it is prohibited to hide loot, plunder, steal, and conceal reports. ” p>
Wald Peric made a knightly salute with a serious face: "Yes."
The old knight knew very well that letting the Second Corps lead the search for this fortress city was not only It is an honor, but also a test - in this battle, the Second Corps finally became active as a formal army, but whether these soldiers from the Kant area can become a long-term trustworthy force for the lord, They must withstand the test of military discipline after entering the city. At this point, the test that the Second Corps, which was converted from the original noble private soldiers, will face is no less than when they first went to the battlefield.
Subsequently, Gawain arrived at the castle area of the Rock Fortress - this castle spanned between the first and second city walls. In fact, its main body was part of the second city wall. It was once the This is the most magnificent and tall building in the fortress, but now... it has less than two-thirds of its structure left.
The entire top floor of the castle and all attached tower buildings have been destroyed by the Aligner beam.
Cecil’s flag has been hung on the flagpole in front of the castle by the first team entering the city. Next to the flagpole, Gawain saw a slightly thin figure wearing a light noble dress. lady.
Luo Penni Grant stood there quietly, next to the loyal middle-aged housekeeper, and behind them were the ladies who followed the lady all the way from Grant to Panshi Ridge, and then from Panshi Ridge. From the ridge to the Rock Fortress, there are one hundred guards who are always loyal and determined.
On the other side, stood the high-ranking ranger Solderin and dozens of Iron Ranger soldiers led by him.
A shadow flashed quickly in the air, quickly rushed to Gawain's side, and condensed into an amber figure. The half-elf lady raised her head triumphantly: "Hey, let me tell you. , I helped hang up the flag!”
Gawain casually patted Amber’s shoulder (it seemed inappropriate to touch the head in such a formal occasion), and then walked towards Luo Penni Grant. After the calm expression on the countess's face, he knew that the other party's revenge had been completed.
"Your contribution is irreplaceable, madam," Gawain said seriously, "Paddy will be happy for your safe return home."
He knew what the lady was most worried about.
After hearing Patty’s name, Luo Penni’s expression indeed flashed with softness. She showed a faint smile and bent down to Gawain with great solemnity: “Please allow me to pay tribute to you, This fortress is yours - please allow me to pledge my allegiance to you again. The Grant family will always be loyal to Cecil."
"I accept your allegiance," Gawain nodded slightly. "But don't just be loyal to me or my family, be loyal to the great cause."
Sir Maryland, who was standing next to him, saw this scene. His expression changed several times, and he didn't know what he was feeling in his heart. He had mixed emotions, but in the end everything he wanted to say turned into a long sigh with complicated meaning: "Alas..."
He found that he could not even call the Baroness a traitor - Luo Penni's Loyalty is unswerving, but she is loyal to Cecil...
"Sir, don't be so busy sighing. Although the Rock Fortress fell, at least it fell into my hands, and It will not fall into the hands of the rebels in the east one day in the future," Gawain glanced at Sir Maryland and said lightly, "Maybe you are full of regrets at the moment, but one day you will feel lucky."
The main hall and military hall in the upper level of the castle have been destroyed by the collapsed ceiling, and other areas have also become in danger due to the collapse of the upper level. Therefore, Gawain directly led people into the restaurant on the lower level of the castle, and put This was used as a temporary post-war takeover headquarters, preparing for further arrangements for the wartime control, reconstruction and repair, and follow-up management of the fortress.
Taking down the Rock Fortress is only the first step in the work. How to rearm and reinforce the fortress and turn it into Cecil's solid north gate is more important.
Of course, before these tasks were carried out, Lord Maryland and all officer-level prisoners of war captured after the city was broken were sent to temporary prisoner-of-war camps and held in solitary confinement and under heavy guard - - Gawain gave them a better living environment, but he did not dare to relax at all in terms of security and defense. Although he did not think that the Maryland knight would escape from prison, he could not guarantee that his old subordinates would. There will be no additional actions.
In his opinion, although a person with a chivalrous spirit like Maryland O'Neill may not be very popular in some aristocratic power circles, he can easily cultivate extremely loyal subordinates. In this case, it is necessary to hold all commander-level prisoners of war in the Rock Fortress separately and under strict guard.
In the hall that served as the temporary headquarters, Gawain looked around at the people present - the two Cecil knights Philip and Byron, and the two Cecil knights Walder Perici and Margarita. Knight Kant, Solderin, the commander of the Iron Rangers, Dame Ropeney Grant, and Amber as a guard, these are all the people who participated in this meeting.
“Everyone, we have won. The Rock Fortress has become Cecil’s northern gate, but after being immersed in victory,Before we can enjoy the joy of profit, we need to know that we still have a lot of work to do. Solderin, please report the situation you have first. "
"Yes," Solderin stood up, the high-ranking ranger's expression was serious, "The royal capital will soon know the news of the fall of Rock Fortress - after the city's magic barrier is extinguished. , the commander who stayed in the city immediately released all the gryphon messengers and carrier pigeons, and sent a group of death squads to rush out of the city from the north side gate. We only had time to intercept some of them, and the remaining messengers had disappeared on the Holy Spirit Plain. It was my fault for not destroying the gryphon's nest immediately. "
"No, you have limited manpower. Your task is to destroy the mage tower first, not the gryphon's nest." Gawain interrupted Solderin, "The situation is as I expected. , the royal capital will definitely know about the fall of Rock Fortress - even if the defenders in the fortress fail to send out the information, Earl Pompeii will quickly notice the situation and send a message immediately. There are still griffon messengers in the Earl's territory, and even say There may be a magical message. "
Speaking of this, Gao Wen paused: "So, the first thing we have to do is to strengthen the wall in the northern part of the fortress and completely transform it - in fact, no matter whether the king can When we receive the message, how long it takes to receive the message, this is the first thing we have to do.
“The original design of Rock Fortress was to defend the Cecil family in the south, so its northern city wall was much weaker and lower than the southern wall - although the fall of Rock Fortress showed that it relied solely on walls and magic. The old fortresses that used shields to defend against attacks have lagged behind this era, but they still have their existence. We must first thicken and heighten the wall on the north side of the fortress. To this end, we can even slow down the repair work on the south wall; secondly, we must thicken and heighten the wall on the north side of the fortress. , we need to transform the northern city wall, cover it with magic net, and install magic crystal rail guns above the city wall, and install calibrators in the future; finally, the entire fortress will also need to be transformed, and it will be built into a heavy A mixed industrial and military fortress, the entire plain extending south from the fortress will be included in the scope of this fortress city..."