Chapter 491: Aftermath
To Major General Rolf Hawthorne, this was probably the first time a beautiful mushroom cloud appeared in this noisy and chaotic world.
The power of the "T"-shaped magic crystal bomb far exceeded everyone's imagination. The mushroom cloud planted by the Idar Air Force in this air strike almost covered the entire holy city, and even... was still spreading to the surrounding areas.
A pungent smell permeated the gray smoke, and the smell of burning lingered in the nose of almost every Crusader soldier.
Bright red blood and broken shrapnel splattered everywhere, and the flames in the city were burning fiercely.
Countless buildings collapsed in the city. Even those that had managed to survive seemed to be groaning helplessly, struggling hard in the surrounding fire and ruins.
Overlooking the scene before his eyes, Major General Rolf Hawthorne seemed to suddenly remember the scene of the Church of Light burning St. Lawrence a few months ago.
He was certainly not an eyewitness to that incident.
But at that time, intelligence from the Idar CIA had vividly described to him the devastation and destruction suffered by the imperial capital of St. Lawrence in just one day.
"The Church of Light has finally come to this day..."
On the airship, Major General Rolf Hawthorne couldn't help but sneer.
Almost every Idar person has an undisguised disgust and prejudice towards this corrupt and ambitious church.
Because as the Kingdom of Basel became a thing of the past, Bruno wanted to awaken the believers of the God of Light wandering in Idar from the foolish deception of the church as soon as possible...
Not only did he order community schools in all provinces and special administrative regions to increase their educational efforts in relevant areas.
Under Bruno's personal instruction, the Merlin News Agency even reported all the crimes committed by the Church of Light over the years to the Idar Daily and other publications.
In addition, the subtle influence of the Idar Drama Troupe and the continuous spread of Protestantism in the Idar Empire...
Let me tell you one thing.
Nowadays, the reputation of the Church of Light in the eastern part of the continent has long become so notorious that it is no exaggeration to say that it is hated by both humans and dogs.
so……
Seeing the magic crystal bombs exploding on the ground, Major General Rolf felt extremely refreshed!
There may be civilian casualties in the city, but this is inevitable! There will always be casualties in war!
Although the accuracy of the bombs of the Idar Air Force is hard to describe, at least when they were first aimed, they were basically aimed at the military buildings and landmark buildings in the holy city! As for the others...
Due to technical limitations, the Idar army is temporarily unable to help.
The idea of the air force soldiers was actually very simple. To cause greater damage to the Church of Light was enough! "After dropping the bombs, we will return immediately!"
After a long time, Major General Rolf took one last look at the beautiful and spectacular mushroom cloud and ordered the pilot of the airship to retreat.
…
On the ground.
The magic crystal stone bombs that fell from the sky one after another had stunned everyone on the ground.
It is definitely impossible to counterattack, after all, the Idar people can "fly", and they can "fly" at an altitude of thousands of meters!
The Church of Light currently does not have any long-range weapons with a range that can reach this level.
and……
Just as the Idar airships were bombarding Bethlehem, several loyal and fearless Crusader soldiers had already tried to fight back with the catapults on the city walls.
It's just that since they were not good at math, didn't understand the trajectory of the parabola and the most basic principles of mechanics, and didn't have much practical experience, so... the stones they threw quickly fell to the ground, killing several unlucky colleagues who were running around on the ground.
The airship had already flown away, but the entire holy city had already fallen into chaos.
The impact of the air strikes is becoming more and more serious as time goes by, and panic is spreading in the city.
The Crusaders are indeed the most elite soldiers in the southern part of the Norman Empire, and every Crusader soldier stationed in this city has a clear division of labor.
But……
The attack from the sky was obviously beyond their reach, and the Crusaders had never made a complete and reasonable plan for such a situation.
The explosions were so loud that the heat waves and pungent smoke made it impossible for many people to open their eyes. This caused the entire holy city to be almost completely paralyzed when facing the bombing.
The flames at St. George's Cathedral grew stronger and stronger, and collapsed buildings blocked the city's streets.
Even though some people wanted to put out the fire and save the huge church that had stood in Bethlehem for hundreds of years, the chaos in the city made them powerless and unable to start.
Opposite St. George's Cathedral, the Lateran Palace is also a key target of magic crystal bombs.
But I don’t know whether it is lucky or unlucky...
Due to the influence of wind, the "T"-shaped magic crystal bomb that was originally going to fall in the center of the Lateran Palace deviated from the expected trajectory and exploded in the northwest corner of the Lateran Palace.
And that is the location of another important institution of the Church of Light - the Inquisition.
The Inquisition was almost flattened by bombs that fell from the sky. The precious church books it contained flew everywhere in the thick smoke and dust, and the countless treasures stored there were also buried under the ruins.
Standing on the third-floor terrace of the Lateran Palace, Cardinal Camus Blanchard looked out at the flames and thick smoke in the city and clutched the fence in front of him tightly.
The marble fence even had several very obvious cracks in the hands of the cardinal.
Anyone could see that at this moment, Cardinal Camus Blanchard was suppressing an unprecedented anger in his heart!
The colossus outside the city had collapsed with a loud bang, and there was no need for the Crusader soldiers to come and report this.
Because if it were in the past, the cardinal could clearly see the giant statue that was dozens of meters high from the terrace of the Lateran Palace.
And now...
Apart from the mushroom cloud that covered the entire city, Camus Blanchard could not see the nearly completed statue!
And St. George's Cathedral!
As the Idar people dropped their bombs, the cardinal practically watched as a barrage of them flew toward St. George's Cathedral, blew its solid dome to the sky, and shattered the iconic building into pieces.
Colossi fell, churches burned, the Inquisition was razed to the ground...
Although the number of magic crystal bombs carried by the Idar people was limited, almost every bomb fell on the most important place that the Church of Light relied on! It was precisely because of this that the panic spread in the city at such a fast speed.
That was the face of the Church of Light! It was the landmark building of the holy city of Bethlehem! Not to mention the other damage and casualties, the burning and collapse of these buildings alone made the Idar Air Force's sneak attack a great success and fruitful!
“Damn it…”
The cardinal took a deep breath and uttered his first words since arriving on the terrace.
Idar people...
Why always the Idar people?
Cardinal Camille Blanchard has been faced with a series of bad luck since the word first appeared on his desk.
Spies infiltrated the church, the arrest of key church figures, and the birth of Protestantism in the eastern part of the empire.
The defection of the Crusader Legion leader and the exposure of the church's secrets...
Even if the Church of Light has made considerable progress in other areas, once something involves the Idar people, the final outcome will become confusing, and the church will definitely suffer unpredictable losses!
Prior to this,
The Cardinal's repeated misjudgments regarding the Idar people had already led to his impeachment many times, and this time...
Looking at the ruins of Bethlehem and the mushroom cloud rising into the sky...
Camus Blanchard actually no longer had any hope of continuing to serve as cardinal.
Because the church suffered too much damage in this air raid! The Crusaders had been prepared for Idal's air raid before! Knowing that Idal had air weapons such as hot air balloons, the Crusaders had long imagined the possibility of Idal's army launching an air strike against the Church of Light with the help of hot air balloons.
However……
This possibility only flashed through their minds and was then denied by the generals of the Crusaders.
Because the straight-line distance from the Idar territory to the holy city of Bethlehem is thousands of kilometers, the Idar hot air balloons are simply unable to achieve such a large-scale long-distance attack.
In the eyes of the church, the griffin, the only creature capable of long-distance raids, cannot carry magic crystal bombs that are enough to cause a threat!
But it is obvious... the existence of the airship is a big surprise given to the Church of Light by the Idar army!
Not to mention the church, before the parade, even few of the Idar officials had heard of such a large aerial weapon as an airship.
so……
No matter whether it was the civilians in the holy city or the clergy and crusader soldiers of the Church of Light, almost everyone was caught off guard by this sudden attack.
"Put out the fire! Mobilize the Crusaders to put out the fire! No matter what method you use, you must control the fire in the city! Especially St. George's Cathedral!" the cardinal screamed desperately.
"yes!"
A Crusader general standing next to the cardinal quickly took the order and left.
The Idar people's bombing could not be stopped at all. Any Crusader soldier who had a devout faith in the Church of Light would be heartbroken by the raging fire burning in the holy city.
Because St. George's Cathedral is not only a landmark building in the holy city of Bethlehem, but also houses precious books, gold and silver utensils, statues and paintings...
No matter which treasure is in it, it has extraordinary significance! And now...
Looking at the blazing flames, the cardinal was skeptical about how many treasures the Crusaders could rescue.
"Camille Blanchard..."
Just as the cardinal was feeling extremely anxious and angry because of the sudden air raid, an extremely familiar yet slightly unfamiliar voice came from behind him.
The moment he heard this cry, Camus Blanchard froze on the terrace, shaking uncontrollably.
However, the generals of the Crusaders around him had already made the sign of the cross on their chests and greeted the visitor in unison: "Your Holiness!"
After a moment, Camus Blanchard turned around with great difficulty, and a familiar figure suddenly came into the eyes of the cardinal.
He said with a guilty conscience: "Your Holiness..."
He was dressed in a light golden robe, a papal crown on his head, and holding a gold-plated cross bordered with white jade.
Clement V looked energetic and didn't look like a man over 70 at all. If you just look at his appearance, he even looked younger than the cardinal.
Clement V looked at the ruins not far away, his face showing no joy or anger, and even his words did not contain a trace of anger or sarcasm:
"Your Excellency the Cardinal has worked so hard over the years to have turned the Holy City into this state!"
As soon as the words fell, everyone present, including Camus Blanchard, felt their knees go weak and they knelt on the cold marble terrace.
This was the first time their Pope had appeared in public in nearly twenty years.
But……
At this moment, the aftermath of the air raid had not yet dissipated, and the Bethlehem that appeared before Pope Clement V was a chaotic city after the war.
"This is... an attack from the Idar people?" Clement V spoke to himself, as if he did not notice the shock of the crowd.
"Your Holiness, I am willing to accept any punishment from the church and will no longer serve as a cardinal," Camus Blanchard said in a deep voice.
Clement V said nothing.
He looked past the Lateran Palace, past the almost half-ruined St. George's Cathedral, and looked outside the city: "How is the Colossus?"
"The Colossus was the first target attacked by the Idar people..." The cardinal gritted his teeth and replied, "According to the news sent by the Crusaders, it... has collapsed."
Clement V sighed with regret, "It doesn't have to be like this..."
As he spoke, the Pope's voice gradually became lower. He looked at the cardinal kneeling on the ground and said, "You are still the cardinal, but... the future affairs of the church will be handled by me personally."
Hearing this, Camus Blanchard was surprised and said, "But..."
"There is no but. Although the Colossus is gone, the Church does not have only this option..." Clement V paused and continued, "As for the Idar people... As long as the Church's plan is realized, they are just a mantis trying to stop a chariot."
"Choice? Grand plan?"
The cardinal was a little confused.
Although he has been managing the operation of the entire Church of Light over the years, in fact... Camus Blanchard's understanding of certain aspects is not even as good as Bishop Olson who was arrested by the Idar people.
"God will protect the church, he will..." Clement V smiled faintly.
only……
At this moment, the cardinal suddenly shuddered.
The Pope's smile looked kind and approachable, but an inexplicable emotion gradually took over his heart...
(End of this chapter)
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