Volume 2 chapter 34
"I know you were furious! But you cannot throw your life away like that!!"
Inside the conference room, Luna slammed her hand on the table, the sound echoing off the stone walls.
"Do you have any idea how terrified I was? Did you want to die so badly that you didn't care about the rest of us?!"
"I'm sorry..." Opposite her, Eleanor hung her head, looking like a scolded child.
Seeing her dejected appearance, Luna's anger evaporated, replaced by exhaustion.
She took a deep breath and sat down. "Promise me. No more impulsive charges. Okay? If I hadn't led the reserves out to cover you, you would have died in that melee. And you wouldn't have died alone; you would have dragged tens of thousands of our brothers and sisters down with you."
"I understand..." Eleanor whispered timidly.
"Forget it..." Luna exhaled, forcing herself to calm down.
"Report for Commander Luna! From Air Commander Rowling!" A communications officer hurried in, breaking the heavy atmosphere.
"Hm? Let me see..."
Luna looked up and took the clipboard. As she read, the color drained from her face, leaving her expression dark and stormy.
"What is it?" Eleanor noticed the shift. Curiosity overcoming her shame, she craned her neck to see.
"Read it yourself." Luna threw the report onto the table and turned to the map, her back rigid.
"Huh?" Eleanor picked up the report. Her eyes scanned the lines, and her jaw dropped. "Four out of six airfields destroyed? Over two thousand aircraft lost?!"
"That can't be right! The Giant Eagle Knights that flew over us... there weren't two thousand of them, let alone enough to do this!" Eleanor questioned immediately.
"Keep reading," Luna snapped without turning around.
"Oh... oh..." Eleanor nodded and read on.
"Alliance deployed 12,000 Giant Eagle Knights... divided into six wings. Only two wings were intercepted by the Talisk air defense network. The other four wings bypassed our detection entirely and successfully struck the rear airfields..."
Eleanor's face sank.
Airfields destroyed meant the Alliance had mapped their patrol routes and found the blind spots. The remaining two airfields likely only survived because they were situated directly behind the fortress, making them impossible to bypass.
But the strategic implication was terrifying. Without airfields, they lost their long-range strike capability.
Air Superiority was gone.
Without bombers to disrupt them, the Alliance could gather their forces just outside the range of the Fortress Guns. They could form up, rest, and then launch a full-scale charge.
As long as they survived the twenty-kilometer dash without routing, they could hit the fortress walls with maximum momentum.
Just like they did at Laptara.
Especially the Elven Cavalry. With their speed, they could cross the distance from the assembly point to the walls in under twenty minutes.
What could the defenders do in twenty minutes? The Fortress Guns could fire maybe 320 rounds total. Against a wave of thirty thousand knights, that wasn't enough to stop the tide.
Previously, the Vanguard Citadel acted as a breakwater. Its guns threatened the flanks, preventing the knights from forming a perfect charge. But now, thanks to Claire's final explosion, that citadel was flat ground. The Alliance had nothing to fear.
"This... what do we do now?" Eleanor grabbed her hair in frustration, looking at Luna.
"Don't panic," Luna said, though her voice was tight. "We lost the citadel, but they paid a heavy price. Six Ninth-Rankers and over ten thousand elites—that hurts them. We have a window of time to prepare a new defense."
"Defense? Are we going to dig trenches like Marseilles?" Eleanor asked doubtfully.
"No!" Luna shook her head. "We don't have the time to dig a network like that. And unlike Marseilles, we have no one to stall the enemy while we dig. If they raid us during construction, we're finished."
"Argh! Then tell me, what can we do?" Eleanor paced around the room anxiously.
"I have an idea. But it is... extreme." Luna turned to face Eleanor, her eyes analyzing the Winged Demon.
"Eleanor, are you afraid of death?" she asked solemnly.
"Hah! Is that a joke?" Eleanor scoffed. "If I feared death, would I have led that charge? If I feared death, would I have accepted the Ascension? If I feared death, would I be standing here?!"
She met Luna's gaze without flinching.
"This is different..." Luna hesitated.
"Enough! Just say it! We're already in this mess, what's left to hide?!" Eleanor slammed the table, her impatience peaking.
"Fine... Here is the plan."
Luna picked up her baton and pointed to the map.
"Look. Talisk Fortress is essentially a cork in a bottle. We sit at the mouth of a gourd-shaped valley. In front of us is a massive, downward-sloping lowland."
The map clearly showed the topography. The fortress blocked the only viable route from the Dragonspine Mountains into the Demon Realm.
Eleanor looked at it, puzzled. "What does the terrain have to do with us?"
"Everything!" Luna waved the baton, tracing a line to the southwest. There, the Prague River—the great artery of northern Rodinia—made a sharp bend.
"See here? The Prague River turns from Northeast to due East. It's only about a hundred kilometers from us. What if we... forced it to change course? What if we made it flow Northeast, straight into the valley?"
"You mean—use the Prague River to drown the Alliance!" Eleanor's eyes lit up.
"Exactly!" Luna tapped the map ruthlessly. "We are on high ground. The water won't touch us. But the Alliance approaches from the lowlands. When the flood comes, half their army will feed the fish!"
"But there are problems," Eleanor raised her hand. "How do we divert a river that size? And it's not flood season. The water level might not be high enough to overwhelm the Alliance Grand Magi. They can divert water too."
"That is why I need you. Take the Ice Clan, Fire Clan, and Rock Clan." Luna's voice turned grim. "Use the Rock Demons to build a dam. Use the Ice and Fire Demons to melt the upstream snowpack and increase the volume. Build up the pressure. Then... blow the dam."
Luna stared at her intense friend. "That is why I asked. Are you afraid to die? Because if you are caught out there, alone..."
"Is that all?" Eleanor realized the stakes. She spoke calmly. "I need ten thousand from each tribe—low-rank is fine. Plus, give me two thousand Shock Troopers for protection. And... I need at least a week."
She looked at Luna worriedly. "But the Alliance will definitely launch another offensive within a week. You..."
"Go!" Luna smiled confidently. "I will hold the line. It's just one attack. Don't underestimate me!"
"Alright! I leave the house in your hands!" Eleanor grinned.
"Leave at night. Don't get spotted."
Seeing Eleanor stand up to leave, Luna cautioned her.
"Relax! I'm just going to sleep! I fought a hard battle today. Ah... I'm exhausted!"
Eleanor stretched her limbs, looking as if a thousand-pound weight had been lifted from her shoulders.
"Good. Rest well."
Luna understood. She smiled softly, then turned back to the map, her face hardening once more.
Comments (0)
Please login or sign up to post a comment.