"The enemy is using some petty tricks... all the magic users in the army, now is the time for you to shine!" With a loud voice that echoed through, Yin Yan just shouted, making nearby messengers on standby highly doubt the necessity of using sound transmission magic while their superiors were speaking.
The magicians, who had been on standby for a long time, were already impatient. Upon receiving the command, they decided it was time to show off their skills. They joined hands, hearts connected with their companions, forming a large circle, and then, with a collective chant, unleashed a powerful magic spell to combat the swamp:
"Water Magic: Let's all freeze together!"
Although the name of the spell was not an impromptu creation, it had indeed consumed quite a few brain cells of these individuals. In light of this, the reserve soldiers decided not to make any sarcastic comments. Two thousand magicians with considerable strength united were not to be underestimated.
As they manipulated the water element, the flowing water formed from the air continuously surged into the ground, gradually eliminating the original swamp terrain and replacing it with a turbulent water area. Subsequently, the water element transformed and, affected by a sudden drop in temperature, froze into a smooth, huge ice surface with a length and width exceeding a hundred meters and a depth of over ten meters.
Although this new terrain was not conducive to the infantry's advance, it was much better than the deadly swamp. Just as the magicians were wiping their foreheads and preparing to celebrate their victory with their colleagues, the opposing side started causing trouble again.
Taking advantage of the high ground, Wang Xiaole could clearly see the scene below. With a pleased curve in his mouth, he immediately said, "Interesting, it seems a range of a hundred meters is still too small, I say, five hundred meters!"
Wang Xiaole lived up to his words and immediately raised the level of the magic, further extending the range of the swamp, turning the area within five hundred meters into a land of death. Seeing the opponent playing big like this, the two thousand magicians couldn't help but grit their teeth, gripping the hands of their partners tighter. They shouted in unison, "Water Magic: Let's all join hands to overcome the difficulties!"
The name was just for show; this magic was an enhanced version of the previous one. It seemed like a challenge to Wang Xiaole. The newly frozen area now encompassed a radius of seven hundred meters around.
For themselves, this action could be considered a substantial effort. In some areas, just creating such a "large-scale ice rink" could scare the city lord into surrendering. However, facing a playful opponent, who at this moment muttered casually, "Interesting, I say, one thousand two hundred meters!"
This number was the limit, and Wang Xiaole had no intention of further expanding the area. Expanding more would risk involving residential areas, and the controller of the war understood that although the range of the swamp magic's influence had not reached his limit, it was already unattainable for the enemy magicians at a long distance.
The game could not continue. Slightly enlarging the range from the original seven hundred meters, if that was all, the magicians would exert all their efforts to resist. Essentially, only by maximally coordinating their holy power could they completely freeze an area about eight hundred meters wide.
However, further expansion could not guarantee the strength of the ice surface. If expanded, there was a risk of the ice cracking beneath their own feet, leading to a calamitous situation where thousands of people fell and froze into ice bars in unison.
Thinking of the possible outcome, the magicians chose not to cast the magic again and rather bluntly told the messengers, "Please inform the Marshal: Although fleeing is shameful, it is useful! Our casualties are not significant, and there is still time to retreat to the outer city area."
Translated into another meaning:
The magicians admitted that they and their comrades were not up to the challenge. Indeed, admitting defeat to a single individual in a group of two thousand was far from admirable. Regardless of whether Inran was willing to admit reality or not, the current situation was clear: after the failure of magical confrontation, they could no longer approach the palace. With the swamp and arrows raining down, retreating was the best option.
The messengers carried back the magicians' message, and after hearing it, Yin Yan was frustrated but could not refute this reasonable suggestion. At this moment, the rain of arrows from a distance seemed to have slightly decreased in frequency. Yin Yan thought that the defenders must be running low on arrows and issued the command, "Rear team becomes front, and front becomes rear, the target is the outer city area."
The first half was not nonsense. In war, once the roles of vanguard and rear troops were reversed, it signaled a significant retreat for the whole army. Not to mention Yin Yan's direct line troops, even the makeshift Inran Empire's soldiers had never experienced such a retreat since the war began. This was just the beginning.
Looking ahead to future battles, observers from other factions could easily consider the events of today as a turning point in this major conflict. Some things had just happened, and some were about to occur.
Yin Yan's strategy was straightforward: if the adversaries did not have enough arrows, the defenders could not hold on for long. Therefore, as long as he fortified the outer city's defenses, extended the siege of the capital for a long time, victory would be theirs. Unfortunately, for this army, waiting was becoming a luxury.
Suddenly, a large number of rubble bounced on the ground as if heralding an approaching earthquake. While Inran's soldiers were retreating, a sense of impending disaster engulfed their hearts, and the prelude to destruction began.
The level ground cracked in an instant, and the hidden second city wall swiftly rose from underground, blocking people tall and erect in front of them. The so-called city wall was not thin; its top featured a narrow space for troops to stay and station.
Earlier, pressed by Qiuyan, the Emperor reluctantly concealed some soldiers with the wall, relying on oxygen provided by the magicians. If Yin Yan's troops had delayed their retreat by half an hour, the troops waiting underground wouldn't have been able to hold on, and they would have revealed themselves involuntarily. Luckily, Yin Yan's timing for retreat was just right. In this critical moment, the second ambush team would show their prowess.
Analyzing the situation, Wang Xiaole's core strategy lay in preventing the enemies from retreating. To achieve this, he needed to create a situation where the enemy forces could not fall back. Presently, the city wall separated Yin Yan's army, dividing them into two groups: one intentionally placed outside the wall by Wang Xiaole and the other trapped inside.
At this moment, a large battlefield had turned into two medium-sized battlefields. Due to Yin Yan's choice to stay behind, he was now trapped along with the rear soldiers. With their commander in danger, what were the soldiers outside the wall going to do? Leaving the commander behind was not an option. Since they were well-trained, each soldier in the Inran army was ready to rescue their leader and launch a counterattack to reclaim him.
Thus, retreat turned into a fierce assault, and Wang Xiaole had already gained preliminary control of the battlefield's direction. It should be noted that his exceptional command skills owed significantly to the teachings he received from Isabella in the past.
"If my student cannot apply what I have taught him properly, then I have failed..." Even if she was not a perfect mentor, as the Imperial Consort of Dibiles, Wang Xiaole was still effectively weakening the enemy.
In his arrangement, the second ambush team launched crossbows from the city wall like locusts, raining arrows in the range. Inran's over forty thousand soldiers at this moment, unable to advance or retreat, were in a helpless situation, akin to fish in a barrel, passively enduring the attacks.
The leader of the second ambush group commanded the long-range troops to attack from three directions - above, left, and right - covering the entire area inside and outside the city wall with a sharp arrow rain. The enemy soldiers on the outskirts could still hold on, but the ones trapped inside were in the worst situation.
Before them was a swamp, behind them was the impenetrable wall, limited movement space, and archers and magicians from multiple directions targeting them. Although Inran's cavalry all carried shields, the shields were relatively small and thin. Faced with arrows coming from all directions, there were always gaps where the arrows could find a way through, dealing fatal blows to the targets.
If anyone could turn the situation around, it would undoubtedly be Yin Yan. As one of the "Quadruple Marshals," he had the capability to independently breach the city walls. If left unattended, it was only a matter of time before the siege would be broken. However, Yin Yan had not yet made a move, and now a real threat was approaching from afar.
People casting magic would not be hindered by their own magic. Just a moment before, Wang Xiaole jumped down from the city wall, and his feet landed on the swamp's surface. Like floating above it, he dashed forward without difficulty, aiming to defeat the core of the enemy army, intending to confront Yin Yan personally.
Although the distance between them was not close, and a wall separated them, Yin Yan's body trembled sensing a formidable aura rapidly attacking him the moment Wang Xiaole rushed forward at full speed. In a state of extreme excitement, Yin Yan's exceptional senses, honed by prolonged combat experience, allowed him to keenly detect the incoming aura at the moment Wang Xiaole charged towards him.
Yin Yan was normally unable to enter such a state when facing the other marshals. At this moment, when the two had intentionally hidden their presence, he couldn't sense it. However, different now, the powerful aura rapidly approaching him as Wang Xiaole charged told him otherwise.
Yin Yan was in an extremely excited state, but seeing Wang Xiaole's aggressive approach made his body tremble. His extensive combat experience had heightened his sense of aura, and now he felt a powerful force quickly bearing down on him. At this moment, Yin Yan stood on the brink of a fierce confrontation, feeling the intense pressure mounting as Wang Xiaole charged towards him with the intention of taking him down.
