School Transmigration: I, Chosen as the Saint by Dragons at the Start-Chapter 193 --Gerald’s Tactics

The troops stationed near Glazed Pavilion belonged to the Milan Kingdom.

In fact, a significant portion of the empire’s western segment was comprised of Milan Kingdom’s legions, with the Milanese King having relocated seventy percent of his forces there.

This left Milan Kingdom’s defenses rather sparse, but with the natural barrier of Natural Ravine, it was unrealistic for the demon army to launch an attack from the south into Milan Kingdom.

Although the combat effectiveness of the Milan Kingdom’s legions couldn’t match that of the empire’s regular forces, the presence of the king himself greatly boosted morale.

Gerald was optimistic that they could break through the demon army’s blockades in time to reinforce Mingate.

The problem was that the imperial forces were temporarily outnumbered, with the Whitelion Kingdom’s troops being held at the Snow Kingdom border.

The southern part of the Whitelion Kingdom’s border lacked natural defenses, whereas Snow Kingdom had five fortresses.

Initially serving as trading hubs, these fortresses were now occupied by the demon army and converted into strong fortifications and bastions.

This allowed the demon army to attack or defend as they pleased, causing considerable concern for the King of Whitelion Kingdom.

As a result, the actual number of Whitelion Kingdom’s forces that could reinforce the imperial frontline fell short of expectations.

Overall, Gerald’s defense was in a state of readiness, for which he had organized several mobile units, and reserve troops within the empire were moving closer to the joint frontline.

However, the commander of the opposing demon army was the demon high priest, a formidable opponent.

The high priest’s troop deployments were impeccable, and it seemed his terrifying wizard legion was fully mobilized.

Upon learning of the events at Mingate, he quickly redirected part of his reserve forces towards Mingate.

Before that, however, Army Maquis Hawkes had already taken the initiative to march towards Mingate with his army.

Both Gerald and the high priest maintained their composure in light of the situation.

Gerald had only given orders to the king of the Whitelion Kingdom that the moment hostilities commenced at Mingate, they were to immediately assault Glazed Pavilion.

Meanwhile, the high priest seemed to have anticipated Army Maquis’s actions.

He did not send anyone to reprimand Army Maquis for acting independently and even dispatched two demon wizards to assist him.

Mingate, being the focal point of the impending major conflict, naturally couldn’t remain calm.

Blight was still in recovery, with Messy and Woody taking charge of affairs.

Messy proclaimed himself as the acting city lord and, in that capacity, named Blight as the city lord and Woody as the grand general.

Blight could only respond with a wry smile to this; the jailer’s name and style of doing things were indeed amusing.

Following this, Messy organized several key actions: First, he exiled the royal family to a derelict garden in the south of the city.

This went smoothly, although Bladen’s only young son was not found.

Second, he conducted a thorough search of the palace’s secret passages and chambers, uncovering vast treasures and unprocessed gems.

Third, he reorganized the city’s defenses.

Messy transformed the palace into the inner city, reinforced the palace walls, and hastily constructed wooden arrow towers.

He integrated the more than eight hundred men who had followed Blight into the Loyalist Army to guard the inner city.

The outer city was defended by the ironclad army, led by the officers Blight had rescued.

The civilians and the ironclad army mostly did not flee, not from a lack of desire but because escape was impossible.

Since the major upheaval at Mingate, any potential escapees spotted by the demon army outside the city were executed on sight, without so much as a question asked.

Woody and Blight’s guard were stationed within the inner city, serving as the last line of defense with living forces.

After completing these preparations, Messy initiated a curfew, assigning Woody to oversee the daytime defense while he took charge of the night.

Residents of the outer city often heard thumping noises in the darkness, curious about the Loyalist Army’s activities.

Gerald was somewhat unclear about the actual situation inside Mingate.

He assumed the city’s highest command would likely be the Third Centurion.

The last piece of information he received indicated that Third Centurion Blight had raised the empire’s flag over Mingate.

Since then, he hadn’t received any further updates.

Nonetheless, this had little impact on the broader situation; the critical task for Mingate now was to defend.

The success of the defense would depend on the capability of the city’s garrison and the competence of its commanders.

On his side, the priority was reinforcement, specifically, to breach Glazed Pavilion and enable the imperial coalition forces to link up with Mingate.

On this front, he was confident.

As the coalition’s commander, he needed to harbor such confidence.

Gerald, reflecting on the situation in Mingate, felt somewhat emotional.

He hadn’t anticipated that Mingate, in such a perilous state, could be reclaimed by those loyal to the empire and to humanity.

Originally, he had deployed the precious Herb Badge to eliminate the traitor king Bladen, hoping merely to sow chaos within Mingate, disrupt the demon army’s arrangements, and gain an advantage for an offensive push towards Mingate.

Unexpectedly, Mingate had been recaptured by Blight and others, presenting the coalition with a greater opportunity.

Now, it was a matter of how much the demon army could be tied down by Mingate.

His gaze returned to the sand table, marked with countless flags representing the battle lines.

For him, defending Mingate and aiding it was not the ultimate goal; otherwise, he would have already ordered the King of Milan to attack Glazed Pavilion.

The real opportunity lay in using Mingate to engage a significant portion of the enemy forces, with the King of Milan breaking through Glazed Pavilion to make a show of assisting Mingate, thereby drawing more of the demon army’s attention.

His ultimate plan was to break through the demon army’s central defenses with a strong force, aiming directly for the demon army’s main camp.

This strategy began to take shape in Gerald’s mind upon learning of the events at Mingate.

For this, he enlisted the services of a legendary figure within the empire, a fabled binder of curses.

He was confident that the demon army would not detect his intentions.

Everything was ready; it was time to commence.

Meanwhile, the Army Maquis’s forces had arrived outside the southern gate of Mingate.

Hawkes glanced at the guards on the city walls and then at the two demon wizards sent by the high priest, feeling the high priest’s actions were superfluous.

In his view, this battle would be much easier than the one at Ironblade City.

"Full assault," he gestured with a wave of his hand.

As soon as Hawkes’s order was given, the attack on Mingate commenced.

The first wave of attackers consisted of several orc squads.

Siege engines led the charge, with infantry bearing shields and ladders, and archers providing cover from the rear ranks – all standard tactics.

The soldiers on the city walls also fought back with all their might, raining down arrows, rolling logs, stones, and boiling oil on the orcs below, causing them great distress.

The ironclad army, with no retreat available, still possessed a significant fighting capability.

After the initial probing, the second and third waves of the siege troops continuously launched attacks on Mingate, focusing on the eastern and southern gates.

The attacking forces included not only orcs but also merfolk, goblins, half-orcs, and other races not seen at Ironblade City.

Except for the goblins, each of these beings was relatively large, creating a significant visual and psychological pressure.

The ironclad army on the city walls gradually began to falter, with forces from the other gates continuously reinforcing the east and south gates.

Just then, a situation arose at the western and northern gates.

Earthwalkers unexpectedly burrowed into the city, opening the gates from within.

Goblins swiftly entered, engaging in close combat with the ironclad army atop the walls.

In less than a quarter of an hour, the ironclad army on the walls had collapsed, and with all four gates wide open, the demon army swept through, eliminating the remaining defenders.

Seeing the situation was irretrievable, a mid-ranking officer struck a bright stone embedded in the city tower.

With thunderous explosions, the outer city walls erupted in various places, fragmenting into pieces.

The blast wave hurled the officer into the backyard of a civilian home in the meadow, where he quickly disappeared into the houses.

The others on the city walls weren’t so fortunate; even if they weren’t killed by the fall, they were severely injured by the debris.

"Explosives?" Army Maquis suddenly became intrigued.

"No," a demon wizard responded, "This is a magic array. It seems our opponents also have a master among them."

"Continue the attack; I shall meet this master myself," Hawkes moved towards the city’s interior.

The city was eerily quiet, with only the enemy forces visible on the inner city walls.

The demon army advanced towards the inner city from all four directions along the main roads, the vanguard nearing the inner city without encountering any resistance.

Suddenly, rows of iron bars erupted from the ground on each main road, dividing them into segments five meters in length, resembling topless cells.

However, the spacing between these cell bars was wider, allowing individuals to pass through sideways, but the larger demon army units could not.