Chapter 438 - 186: Royal City in Crisis
Chapter 438: Chapter 186: Royal City in Crisis
For the next several days, Robson led his Knights in a series of charges across the region.
Many more reckless Centaur Tribes charged forward, shouting battle cries, trying to halt the advance of Robson’s forces.
However, much like the three tribes before them, they displayed no real fighting ability. Robson’s Cavalry commanders took the field and made short work of them.
These so-called Centaur Warriors were, in truth, not even on par with Tier Two Soldiers. The few who possessed any real strength fled the moment they encountered Robson’s army.
It was no wonder the Centaur Imperial Court had sent the clan’s last elite forces to rescue the Centaurs in Julian City. For the clan, those Centaurs might truly have been the cure they desperately needed.
Robson then gathered all his Magic Crystal Cannons and began a fierce bombardment of the Centaurs’ western gate.
But, it had to be said, the Centaur Royal Court was a different matter entirely.
No human had conquered this place for centuries. In fact, with the exception of a few brilliant Monarchs, very few had even managed to fight their way to its gates.
The Centaurs were still one of the top ten strongest clans in the Beastman Empire, and their accumulated strength over hundreds of years was truly on another level.
The walls of the Royal City were twice as thick as those of Sunset Fortress!
Furthermore, the city was protected by a Magic Array. A faint purple screen enveloped the entire metropolis. When the blasts from the Magic Crystal Cannons passed through this screen, most of their energy was stripped away, and their impact on the city walls was negligible.
Inside the Centaur King City, nearly ten thousand Centaur Warriors stood in defense. As long as they refused to leave the city for a battle in the open field, Robson had no immediate way to deal with them.
....
"Your Highness, the Widam Tribe has retreated..."
"We have no reinforcements, and our supply of Magic Crystals is running low. Once the magic screen shatters..."
Beside Prince Feiseli, Quintus, who had just rushed back, wore a grim expression.
Prince Feiseli gazed at the human encampment in the distance, his own mood just as bleak.
For the Centaur Clan, this was an inescapable trap, with no hope of survival in sight.
Although it seemed the humans were fighting them on even terms, with the enemy Soldiers not daring to approach the walls, that was only due to the power of the city’s Magic Array.
Due to decades of incessant internal conflict within the Beastman Empire, the Centaur Clan had already spent most of its wealth.
The defensive array protecting the Centaur King City was a Tier Eight Array. A Tier Eight Defense Array could weaken all incoming energy-based attacks by half. Even the force of siege weapons like ballistae and catapults would be significantly reduced.
The Tier Eight Defense Array was certainly powerful, but that power came with an equally high rate of consumption.
The Magic Crystals within the Centaur King City weren’t even enough to sustain it for a month, and that was assuming the humans maintained their current level of assault.
’This won’t do. I have to make a change!’ Prince Feiseli gritted his teeth.
’The way the Royal Court is now, it’s no different from just waiting to die!’
General Quintus watched Prince Feiseli quietly. ’Easy to say, but how? How are we supposed to change anything?’
There were nearly one hundred thousand Centaurs within the Centaur Royal Court, but they were mostly the old, the weak, women, and children. The number of adult males able to fight was only around ten thousand. These ten thousand men were the Royal Court’s entire fighting force.
They had now seen the combat effectiveness of the elderly and the young. The so-called "citizen-soldier" was a joke in the face of a true professional army.
Only when defending the city, using the tactical advantages of the Centaur King City’s terrain, could the old and young even hope to hold off the human army for a little while.
Outside the city walls, despite their numbers, a good portion of them would likely die just from trampling one another in the chaos.
There was simply no comparison.
"Zaven, do you have any better ideas?" Feiseli asked.
Elder Zaven, standing to one side, felt a sense of resignation. He had previously been forced to suggest a plan, but it had been a disastrous move that served only to increase the Centaur Clan’s casualties.
’And now Feiseli still had the nerve to ask him for another idea.’
Little did Zaven know, Feiseli was acting out of desperation.
Within the Royal Court, Zaven was the only one who seemed remotely reliable. The rest were completely useless.
Even General Quintus now looked at Elder Zaven with an expectant gaze.
Although his last suggestion had been a blunder, Elder Zaven was, for the most part, a reliable advisor.
Feeling the weight of their expectant gazes, Elder Zaven opened his mouth, then let out a sigh.
"Your Highness, I believe that at this stage, the best option is to lead the army in an escape from the Royal City," Zaven said.
"Escape the Royal City... How is that possible...?"
"Your Highness, as long as our people survive, there’s still a chance. If they are gone, then everything is truly lost."
"You are a Prince of the Centaur Clan. You should understand this," Zaven urged earnestly.
"Sigh... Of course, I know that."
"But inside our Centaur King City, there are nearly a hundred thousand old and young, not to mention countless livestock and grain."
"Where would we even go if we left? And with those humans out there, could we even escape safely?"
"Zaven, that’s over a hundred thousand people!" Feiseli lamented with a sigh.
It wasn’t that Prince Feiseli was particularly kind-hearted or deeply concerned for his people.
The crucial point was that the old, the weak, women, and children inside the Centaur King City were no ordinary folk. They were almost exclusively the families of the Centaur nobility; many were nobles themselves.
Breaking out of the city would undoubtedly be for the good of the Centaur Clan as a whole, but for Prince Feiseli, it would be a disaster.
They couldn’t possibly hold back the humans outside. Many would surely die in the attempt, and the families of the fallen would undoubtedly place all the blame on Feiseli’s head.
Furthermore, if they were to break out, they couldn’t possibly take the city’s wealth with them. It would all be seized by the humans, and the Centaur nobles would surely blame him for that loss as well.
He, Feiseli, was only a Prince with no right of succession. Once he was held accountable for all these losses, he might as well be dead.
Zaven pondered for a moment before continuing.
"Escaping the Royal City is still the best option."
"If Your Highness cannot make up your mind, perhaps you could ask the King. He could also discuss the matter with His Majesty the Emperor and ask him to dispatch some forces to aid us..." Zaven suggested tentatively.
Upon hearing this, Feiseli weighed the pros and cons, finally letting out a sigh.
"Then... I suppose that’s the only way."
’The plan itself hasn’t really changed,’ he thought. ’It just adds a crucial player: the Centaur King.’
’Feiseli couldn’t possibly take the fall for this alone. With his father involved, things would be much easier to handle.’
’And if, by some chance, his father could actually secure reinforcements, that would be better still.’