In the moonlight, Shelley's eyes sparkled, as if they were not ordinary pupils, but two stars.

"Respected, High Priest Shelley, your words are very interesting." Wu Lai smiled, "But it also confuses me because I don't quite understand what you mean."

"Okay, let me be more clear, General Woolley. My divination skills are ineffective here. That is to say, I can't predict your past, present, and future." Shelley said seriously.

"Oh? Is there such a strange thing? But does this mean that I come from another world? High Priest Shelley, I am a native Seneca, and my ancestors have lived there for generations." Wu Lai said with a smile, but he was also a little more confused. When Shelley said that he could not be divined, Wu Lai was a little surprised. He even thought that Shelley was joking, but after carefully examining Shelley's expression, he was sure of one thing - Shelley did not lie.

"It can explain it." Shelley's eyes moved to the twin moons in the sky, "Because there are only two possibilities that can make my divination ineffective. One is that your soul does not originally belong to this world, and the other is that you are a god. But, General Wu Lai, I can basically rule out the second possibility."

Of course I am not a god, if I were, that would be awesome. Wu Lai laughed in his heart and asked seriously, "What about the first one?"

Shelley shook his head in disappointment to Wu Lai: "I'm sorry, General Wu Lai, I can't answer your question because I don't know what it means. Maybe... forget it, let's not talk about this."

Forget it? Wu Lai couldn't help but frowned: "Is High Priest Shelley waiting for me here in the middle of the night just to tell me these inexplicable words?"

"No." Shelley shook his head again. "That's just one reason. Second, the Woye Army will soon run into trouble, and the glory will go to the Salt Marsh Army. But the process will also be tortuous and difficult. General Woolley must remember this."

"Dilemma? Glory?" Wu Lai frowned.

"Yes, I saw the Fertile Army surrounded by blood, fire, death and crying, and I also saw the Salt Marsh Army cheering for victory," Shelley replied.

"Thank you, High Priest Shelley, you've worked hard." Wu Lai didn't quite believe it. The failure of the Woye Army was foreseeable, but the Saltmarsh Army's chances of winning were also very slim. With their current level of training and troops, they would not be a match for Hulett's First Legion, even if the opponent was only a part of it.

"General Wu Lai, I sense your suspicion. That's not a good thing." Shelley gave Wu Lai a warning look, then turned around and walked towards her tent.

Wu Lai smiled bitterly and shook his head. The military priests were very useful in the army. They could inspire the morale of the soldiers and stabilize the military spirit. If used properly, they would be a great help to the commander. But if the priest was too strong or liked to interfere in military affairs, it might be a big hidden danger. In the history of the continent, there were many examples of military priests messing up battles.

This legendary High Priest Shelley seemed to have that tendency, and Wu Lai felt that he should take some precautions in advance...

…

Five days later, the wolf smoke rose again, first one, then two, and finally, three at the same time - according to the Assyrian custom, one wolf smoke was a warning, two wolf smoke meant that the two sides were evenly matched and were fighting, and three wolf smoke meant that the situation was critical and reinforcements were urgently needed.

It only took half a day for the Woye Army's smoke signals to increase from one to three.

The attack of Hulett's First Army began before dawn.

After all the 500 people sent out that night were killed, Howell dared not make such unnecessary sacrifices anymore, and instead devoted all his energy to defense. After a few days, the guard walls at the edge of the gap were raised and thickened by nearly ten cubits, but this still did not make Howell feel at ease.

At dusk the day before yesterday, Hulett's First Legion drove the wooden stakes only thirty steps away from the gap. In order to successfully drive this last row of wooden stakes, Liehuo lost nearly four hundred soldiers. But Howell, who achieved this victory with zero casualties, could not be happy at all, because although the enemy was under rain of arrows, battering rams, and rolling stones, they still stubbornly nailed one wooden stake after another firmly into the cracks in the stones. Moreover, when these rain of arrows, battering rams, and rolling stones swept towards them, they either dodged or blocked with wood. Unless they were knocked down, they would never retreat a single step.

Such an enemy was so tenacious that Howell was frightened and his soldiers were terrified. When the enemy drove the last wooden stake and retreated, they suddenly found that every wooden stake near the gap was covered with blood. Then, they realized that they had made a big mistake - the falling logs and rolling stones, after being stopped by a number of wooden stakes and strange rocks, actually formed a long and narrow "staircase" below the gap, which undoubtedly reduced the difficulty of the enemy's climbing and even provided the enemy with a good platform for constructing archery positions to assist in attack.

"General, why do they just take the beatings and not fight back? Don't they have archers?" Denel couldn't help but ask when the enemy troops retreated.

"Denelle, if I were you, I wouldn't ask such an idiotic question." Howell, who was already in a bad mood, glared at Denelle and said, "Give the order and keep your eyes open. After nightfall, throw a torch down every few minutes, so that we won't even know if the enemy sneaks up at night!"

"Yes, sir!" Denel straightened his back quickly.

Howell's guess was correct. Liehuo planned to attack after dark. However, he was not in a hurry because the weather was clear during this period. Every night, the two moons in the sky provided a good view for both the enemy and us. Attacking under such vision conditions was almost the same as attacking in daylight.

Liehuo's wait soon came - after nightfall yesterday, dense clouds suddenly appeared in the sky. Although they did not completely block the moonlight, they had met Liehuo's expectations. Therefore, the officers of the prepared troops were summoned to his tent as quickly as possible.

"Launch the attack before dawn, and attack in one go. Those who attack first should not resist but keep moving quickly along the enemy's protective wall, harassing back and forth, killing as many enemies as possible, disrupting the enemy's defensive rhythm, and preparing for the follow-up..." Liehuo waved his hand fiercely.

His order was quickly passed down to all the teams on standby...

The formal attack was launched the moment a Woye Army sentry screamed. The unlucky guy had just climbed up the guardrail and was about to throw a torch into the gap when he suddenly found a face in front of him. He was so frightened that he only had time to scream before his neck was cut off. The moment the blood spurted out from his neck, the torch fell, and in the shining light, he saw more figures.

Oh my god, so many people. In the last moments of his life, the sentinel thought so while struggling to cover the wound on his neck, but it was no use...

The fierce fire raid was forbearing - six thousand soldiers quietly left the camp at midnight, and then moved towards the gap at an extremely slow pace and posture as slow as a turtle, which was a fierce demonstration of military discipline, military quality and patience of the soldiers. It was precisely because of this that the observation post above the gap failed to detect the approaching enemy. Of course, the cover of the wooden stakes also played an indispensable role.

When the first echelon of 3,000 soldiers arrived at the "staircase" area made of rocks and wood before dawn, the second echelon of 50 siege ladders were also handed up. Then, the first echelon was divided into 50 groups. Then, 50 siege ladders were placed on the outer edge of the wall at the same time, and the first wave of 500 soldiers began to climb...

The screams of the first sentry to die aroused vigilance, but amid the continuous shouts, human figures continued to appear on the top of the parapet. These Hulett soldiers in black leather armor climbed up the parapet and leaped towards the defenders on the inside of the parapet. Then, they rushed left and right while waving their weapons. They roared wildly, chopped off the lighting torches inside the parapet, or kicked away the dry firewood that was still burning in the campfire. Some simply grabbed torches and rushed towards the nearby tents, but more people took a posture of charging back and forth on the inside of the parapet to cover their companions who climbed up later.

As the shouts of killing rang out, the second echelon quickened its pace and arrived in front of the siege ladder. Behind them, the 5,000 men of the third echelon sent by Liehuo had already reached two-thirds of the gap, and the 3,000 Kimo troops of the fourth echelon also rushed out of the camp...

The Woye Army's defensive wall was in chaos, but fortunately, it was only the defensive wall. The fences and trenches were all assembled and lined up in an orderly manner, and the reinforcements of the reserve team were also being deployed quickly...

Howell in the tent had also gone from being angry at first to being unusually calm. If he didn't even have this quality, how could he be the commander of the Woye Army? "Archers and javelin throwers in the middle, prepare. Remove the wooden bridges in all trenches immediately," Howell waved his hand fiercely. "If the wall area cannot be saved, abandon it! Go, return to your respective posts!"

"Yes!" All the officers responded in unison, turned around and ran out quickly.

After everyone left the tent, Howell narrowed his eyes, took the armor handed to him by the guard and began to put it on...

The latest novel is published first on Liu9shuba!

…

When three smoke signals rose at the same time, Dette, who was seven miles behind the Gap Defense Zone, moved. Although he was very nervous, he still decisively issued an order for reinforcements - this was not a good decision, because it was tantamount to abandoning the city of Kayikede. Once the reinforcement of the Gap Defense Zone became a one-way "journey", the city of Kayikede would be handed over to the enemy. If there was no reinforcement, Dette was sure that he could hold out for a few more days until the reinforcements arrived.

But would he just ignore the friendly forces' request for help? The answer is no, because Date is first and foremost a soldier, a soldier who knows how to respect friendly forces and battlefield etiquette.

"Send half of the scout team to spread out vertically. If we fail, immediately rush back to Kayikede to report the situation and ask General Wu Lei to lead the Woye Army to defend the city. At the same time, ask for help from Gonzalez City." Daite made the arrangements in a hurry and drew his sword. "Warriors of the Second Legion, target the Gap Defense Zone and march forward quickly!"

"Yes!" All the soldiers responded in unison, their voices shaking the sky.

The soldiers' response made Date feel warm all over, and a sense of pride rose in his heart. In an instant, he forgot his previous hesitation. However, after running a few steps, he couldn't help but turn around and look in the direction of Kayikede City.

"Woolelindo, I wish both of us good luck." Date thought to himself.

At the same time, in a dense forest ten miles behind the camp of the Date Army, Wu Lai was sitting on a large tree branch that was seven or eight people high from the ground, holding a wild grass in his mouth and holding a vine hanging from above in his left hand. His eyes flew out of the treetops and fell on the three parallel rising wolf smokes. At the root of the tree branch on the right side of his body, Shelley, wearing a golden thread flower and bird priest costume, was standing lightly against the tree trunk with a relaxed look on his face.

"My High Priest Shelley, you really got it right." Wu Lai retracted his gaze. He rushed to this area last night and originally wanted to continue forward to meet up with Dayte's army, but was stopped by Shelley.

"It wasn't me who said it, it was the oracle," Shelley said.

"Okay, Oracle, then I would like to ask my High Priest Shelley, can my Salt Marsh Army set off now?" Wu Lai asked.

"Wait a little longer, don't worry, you just need to wait a little longer." Shelley raised the corners of his mouth slightly.

Wu Lai nodded gently: "But I don't think this is a good idea. Date's Second Legion garrison must have already set out. If the Salt Marsh Army rushes with him to reinforce, their momentum, strength, and morale will be much stronger than if we act alone."

"Since you have chosen to believe me, then please do not doubt me, General Wu Lai. Last night you said, 'After you finish your performance, I will take the stage.' This is very interesting." Shelley's eyes swept across Wu Lai's eyebrows and continued, "The current situation is that the Woye Army has to fail to perform, and then it will be your turn to take the stage."

"But do you understand military affairs? Compared with the Woye Army and the Second Legion's garrison, my soldiers lack training and experience. I'm not confident enough to defend the city now," said Wu Lai.

"You didn't, but I did, because I won't question the oracle." Shelley glanced at Wu Lai again, "Now please take me down."

"Huh? Didn't you say that as long as I bring you up, I won't be responsible for taking you down?" Wu Lai was stunned.

"I did say that you only had to bring me up, but I didn't say that you were not responsible for bringing me down," Shelley replied.