Chapter 331 - 84: Setting Fire to the Mountain
Chapter 331: Chapter 84: Setting Fire to the Mountain
The shores of Dong’er Man Lake.
There were not many places in the world undisturbed by intelligent life.
Dong’er Man Lake was an exception. Humans had only taken notice of this place in the last hundred years. Previously, when Viscount Affleck had attempted to dispatch troops to occupy it, he was repelled by the beasts here. This coincided with the outbreak of war between the Frank Kingdom and the Beastman Empire, so no further human armies were sent to quell the magical beasts.
This situation persisted until Robson’s arrival.
Robson gazed at Dong’er Man Lake before him, listening to Gerard’s introduction from his side.
After a march of about a day, Robson had finally arrived at his own territory.
The lake before him was of a considerable size, likely more than ten square kilometers. At the very least, Robson couldn’t see the other side with a single glance.
Beyond the lake lay a mountain range—the edge of the Demon Beast Mountain Range. It was no wonder there were beast tides, being this close to it.
The swamp Gerard had mentioned was to the west of the lake, where the terrain was lower and water seeped out from the lake.
A vast plain stretched out before Robson, and he himself stood at the border between the plain and the forest.
The gathering places of the magical beasts were nearby; Robson could even hear their cries.
Robson surveyed the area and made his assessment.
’It’s absolutely perfect!’
How could it not be perfect? The plain before him was enormous, and there was a considerable drop in elevation between it and the lake, so he wouldn’t even have to worry about flooding.
"Not bad. It’s a fine place indeed," Robson nodded.
"I’m glad you like it, my lord," Gerard said with a sycophantic smile.
"The only problem now is that these magical beasts are hard to capture."
"When our army was still ten *li* away, many magical beasts already caught wind of our approach. The entire way here, all we saw were fleeing magical beasts," Ais said.
"There’s no need to worry about that."
"I’ve already made my decision. Mr. Falan, are the things I had you and the Mage Corps prepare ready?" Robson asked, looking at Falan, who was standing to the side.
Robson was no longer the man he was when he had just gone to the Sunset Race; he now held countless cards in his hand.
For one thing, he, Lord Robson, had over twenty Mages.
This Mage Corps was primarily composed of the group of Mages sent by Valentino, as well as the Mage Corps later sent by the Edward family.
Although Robson’s Mages were rarely deployed, it didn’t mean they were weak.
They were rarely deployed because Robson’s army was too strong. In reality, Robson’s Mages were learning according to a strict standard.
During this time, Robson had handed all of them over to Falan for instruction. After all, regardless of whether the history Falan spoke of was correct, his knowledge of Magic was rock-solid.
"Everything is ready. When the time comes, we will need to trouble your magical beast," Mage Falan said with a nod.
Mage Falan was not in good condition at the moment. He hadn’t slept all night due to the numerous tasks Robson had assigned him.
Furthermore, Falan’s body was not his original one but a conglomerate of Magic Crystals. The body formed by this mixture was not perfectly compatible with his soul, so Mage Falan’s spiritual consumption was exceptionally high.
At this moment, Huang Na stood on Robson’s shoulder, looking at the two men in confusion.
"Since everything is ready, let’s begin."
"Ais, Claude. The two of you will each take a regiment and the Cavalry Team, and position yourselves on either side of the lake."
"At dawn tomorrow, the Mage Corps will start a forest fire. I’ll have people control the blaze. You two, block the exits on both sides of the lake. Don’t let the magical beasts escape," Robson said, looking at Claude and Falan.
That’s right, this was Robson’s plan. Based on the Cavalry Team’s reconnaissance, Robson had a rough grasp of the magical beast distribution in this area. Most of them were gathered before the lake.
If Robson marched his army in directly, the magical beasts would surely scatter in a chaotic rout. Not only would he lose a large amount of Magical Beast Meat, but it would also create endless trouble down the line.
Robson had too many people to have them all gathered in this one area by Dong’er Man Lake. He would definitely need to send people out to establish villages and such.
If losses occurred later because reinforcements couldn’t arrive in time, Robson would be left crying without tears.
Of course, a normal forest fire would certainly not work against magical beasts, but Robson happened to have a secret weapon in Huang Na.
As long as he started several blazes of Phoenix Fire throughout the forest, the Mages, together with Huang Na, could control the inferno and force most of the magical beasts toward the lake.
The key was Huang Na. After all, Huang Na was now in her youth stage. She couldn’t be said to have flexible control over the flames, but she could at least control their general direction.
The burnt-out forest could also serve as fertilizer. When the spring rains came, it would become prime farmland.
The only thing to worry about was preventing the fire from spreading to other areas.
Robson had prepared for this as well. He had already instructed Falan to take a group of Mages and create firebreaks. Open areas that wouldn’t burn could be ignored; the main focus was on certain connecting points, where they would lay down a layer of water elementals on the ground.
What Robson planned to use was the fire ignited by Huang Na’s Phoenix Fire, not pure Phoenix Fire itself. Water elementals would be enough to block it.
"Remember, do not actively enter the fire zone before I give the order."
"If any magical beasts charge out on fire, shoot them with arrows. If they still don’t die, leave them be," Robson added.
The Magical Beast Meat was good, but Robson cared more about his soldiers.
He was in a pure startup phase now; every single Soldier had to be used sparingly.
"Yes, sir!"
Claude and Ais didn’t ask too many questions and accepted the order together.
"Mm, go and prepare for now," Robson nodded.
....
Claude and the others returned to the military camp and immediately gave the order: apart from the reconnaissance scouts, the entire army was to sleep on the spot.
Even a lion uses its full strength to catch a rabbit. Although their opponents were just a group of magical beasts, since they had the time, Claude and the others chose to let the soldiers rest and be in peak condition before acting.
This was Robson’s consistent habit: caution.
After fighting side-by-side for a long time, these habits had now been passed on to Claude, Bo Yang, and the others.
For Robson’s soldiers, time passed in the blink of an eye, and soon it was late at night.
Following a clear phoenix cry from the sky, the Tier 6 and 7 soldiers awoke at almost the exact same moment.
"Get up! No horn today! Get up!"
"Get... Huh?" Captain Jason had intended to wake Hans first, since that guy was always the last one to get up.
"How are you up so early today?" Captain Jason asked Hans, puzzled.
"I don’t know. Lately, I feel like my control over my body has gotten much stronger," Hans said, shaking his head.
"Since you’re up, don’t just stand there. Wake everyone else up."
"I know, I know. Hey, Captain, is that thing true?" Hans asked as he walked over.
"What thing?"
"It’s... it’s about Captain Ace! Have you heard? Captain Ace became a noble! I heard Captain Ace was born a Peasant—his family was even poorer than mine!" Hans came forward and asked.
The news of Ais becoming a Knight Lord had been spreading like wildfire through the army. Robson’s soldiers usually had only training and marching to occupy them, so their lives were quite dull.
When a piece of gossip like this appeared, it spread unusually fast, especially since this particular tidbit was relevant to everyone.
After all, everyone knew Captain Ace’s ancestors were authentic Peasants. Many in the first regiment could even attest to it.
Now Ais, who came from poverty, had relied on the system of military merit to become a noble lord in one fell swoop. The impact this had on everyone was immense.
Captain Jason shot Hans a look.
"True or not, what’s it got to do with you? He has a level twelve military merit..."
"How is it not my business? That’s a noble! A noble who used to be a Peasant!" Hans immediately became indignant at Captain Jason’s rebuttal.
Hearing this, Captain Jason was also somewhat moved.
In fact, compared to Hans, Captain Jason felt the greatest shock.
Hans was young, after all, still in the phase of learning about the world. His ability to accept new and strange things was naturally stronger.
But Captain Jason was not. He was over thirty, and the ideas of social class were deeply ingrained in him.
’Nobles are nobles, and Peasants are Peasants. Nobles are lofty, and Peasants are lowly. How can a Peasant become a noble?’
And besides the news about Ais, Captain Jason, being a squad leader, knew more than the others.
He knew that beyond Ais’s promotion, the bureaucrats who would exercise authority on behalf of the nobility would also be selected from among the soldiers.
And the criteria for selection would be military merit and a cultural exam.
He heard that some people would even be gathered to learn how to read and write—to receive an education!
’Education...’ That word was still too foreign to Captain Jason. The only education he had ever received was learning addition, subtraction, the multiplication table, and a few basic characters.
"It might not be true... We’ll see when the time comes. For now, get your armor on. It’s time to assemble."