Monarch of Evernight: One hundred and sixty-two forced summons

bsp;Chapter 161

There is a vast area between the Zhao clan and the Bai clan war zone, with undulating terrain, intertwined hills and canyons, and several stone forests rising abruptly from the ground. At the bottom of the canyon, the river roars past, the current is fast, and there are reefs everywhere. No matter how good the water is, people dare not enter without permission.

This vast area is a natural battlefield. Due to the complex terrain and inconvenient transportation, many places are inaccessible even to trucks with the best off-road capabilities. Therefore, in the early days of the war, neither Zhao Clan nor Zhang Clan built in this area. Large fortresses are just some small forts built.

At this moment, on the simple road along the canyon, an army is marching in the direction of Zhao Clan. There are only a dozen trucks in this team of about several hundred people, which are full of equipment and wounded, so most of the soldiers can only move forward on their own feet.

Many of the soldiers walking on the ground were wrapped in bandages, and some were still bleeding out. There were many bullet holes in almost every truck, and the worst one had its cab roof missing and only half of its engine cover left. Every time there was a slightly bigger bump, the car would groan and spit out a lot of steam, making people wonder if it would break down completely on the next stretch of road.

The trucks and soldiers all have Zhang Clan's emblem on them, and they have obviously just been withdrawn from the front line. Although they seemed to have just experienced a tough battle, they still maintained their basic marching formation, and their morale was not low.

Following the officer's order, the unit immediately separated dozens of people and a truck of supplies and began to build defensive positions on the hills by the roadside, while the rest continued to march. Everything is in order. From these details, it can be seen that although Zhang Clan's private army is not so famous, it is still an elite and rare force.

Moving forward more than ten kilometers, this force separated dozens of people and once again built defensive and warning positions. The remaining people walked nearly twenty kilometers, and a hill appeared on the distant horizon, with a castle looming on the top.

Officer Zhang Hua picked up the telescope, and the castle gradually became clearer in his vision. This is not a small stronghold, but a fortress that can accommodate at least several thousand people. On top of the fortress wall, several military flags fluttered in the wind. Seeing the words 'Youyan Zhao Family' on the military flag, the officer's tense face finally seemed to relax a little. He exhaled heavily and ordered: "Immediately send someone to report to the general and say that we have arrived at the Zhao clan's defense area."

The captain next to him immediately got out of the command vehicle, unloaded a motorcycle from the back compartment, drove towards the road, and in the blink of an eye disappeared at the end of the road in the billowing smoke.

At this moment, in the fortress not far away, a small conference room was crowded with seven or eight generals. Except for two generals in the uniforms of the regular army of the empire, the rest were all wearing Zhao Clan or Lang Yan. Legion mark. This did not reduce deterrence, but rather increased it. As we all know, the combat power of the Zhao clan's private army and the Wolf Smoke Legion is still higher than the main army of the empire.

Sitting in the middle is a lieutenant general with gray hair on his temples. He is frowning and staring at the map spread out on the conference table. To his left, sat a young general with sharp eyebrows and starry eyes. He looked not yet thirty years old, but he clearly wore the rank of major general. Among the generals, there were actually two who were less than thirty years old, and one of them, a brigadier general, looked like he was only in his mid-twenties. Most of the remaining generals are in their thirties or forties, with few over forty.

There are only two generals belonging to the Imperial Legion, both around fifty, and both are major generals. When they looked at the contemplative and silent Lieutenant General in the middle, they all had awe in their eyes.

Zhao Zhuoyan, the fourth son of the Duke of Yan, first entered the battlefield at the age of sixteen and has been fighting for more than twenty years. He has rarely suffered a defeat in his life. It's just that his style has always been steady and his troops are like a rock, but it is not as easy to attract attention as Zhao Weihuang's wind-thunder-volcano style. However, regardless of his record or combat power, Zhao Zhuoyan cannot be underestimated.

Presiding over the Zhao clan war zone in the floating land battlefield this time is a recognition of Zhao Zhuoyan’s strength.

Although Zhao Zhuoyan is not well-known, most people in the imperial army know about him, and they all know that he is the most troublesome opponent.

The two imperial generals glanced at the other Zhao clan generals, especially the major general on Zhao Zhuoyan's left for a while. Then they looked at each other and saw the deep fear in each other's eyes.

Zhao Junhong, one of the four sons of the Zhao family, can be regarded as a model of becoming famous since childhood. If Zhao Jundu wasn't so dazzling, his reputation would be more than this. But what everyone didn't expect was that after showing his outstanding commanding talent, Zhao Junhong's combat power also improved by leaps and bounds, making breakthroughs one after another. At this moment, he was actually at level 12, and was on par with Zhao Jundu for a while.

The young man sitting next to Zhao Junhong, Zhao Junyi, is only in his early twenties and is also a brigadier general. At this point, the former four young masters of the Zhao family were all warrior generals. They had gone from needing family protection to being able to stand alone.

Although Zhao Fenglei, who was sitting on the other side, was a little older, he was still compared with Zhao Junhong and Zhao Junyi. No matter what, he is still a major general now, and he definitely belongs to the young faction in the imperial military. Among this generation, the Zhao clan also has Zhao Jundu, Zhao Ruoxi and Zhao Yuying, who are the best in the clan.

This is the Zhao Clan, and it can no longer be described as having so many talents.

At this time, Zhao Zhuoyan, who had been silent for a long time, finally raised his head, looked around, and said in a deep voice: "This response to Zhang Clan's army is related to the fate of the country, and I don't need to say more about its significance. I will adopt Jun Hong's strategy in this battle, and I can only succeed. No failure is allowed! No matter who makes a mistake, it will be dealt with according to military law and will not be tolerated!"

Zhao Zhuoyan spoke with a strong voice, and everyone was shocked and responded loudly.

As can be seen from the map, in the vast area between the war zones of Zhang and Zhao, there are nine fortresses, vaguely arranged into nine palaces.

Zhao Zhuoyan said: "This time Zhang Clan is defeated, the dark race will not give up. The army will chase them tail to tail, advance on multiple routes at the same time, and outflank Zhang Clan to annihilate Zhang Clan's army outside our Zhao Clan defense area. . These nine fortresses are very important. We must delay the dark army as much as possible so that Zhang Clan's army can retreat smoothly and enter our defense area. Except for the three fortresses on the first line, the other fortresses must be held for at least three days. I will follow up after three days. Organize reinforcements."

All the generals have their eyes on the nine fortresses. Even those who are not familiar with military affairs know how difficult it is to stop the dark army with only hastily built fortresses. It is almost a fatal task.

Seeing everyone's solemn expressions, Zhao Junhong suddenly smiled and said: "This battle is not without a chance. In the eyes of the dark race, chasing Zhang Clan's army is obviously much more important than taking down a small fortress. We only need to defend the first In a wave of offensive, the dark army will leave a small force to continue attacking and containment, while the main force will bypass the fortress and continue the pursuit."

The two imperial generals immediately looked better and nodded.

The commander-in-chief of these nine fortresses is the most important. Zhao Zhuoyan looked around and said: "Generals, you can choose which fortress you like."

Some of the generals frowned, some pondered, and were silent for a while. Which fortress you choose depends not only on yourself, but also on who is the leader of the surrounding fortresses. In a fierce battle, whether the fortresses can cooperate and respond to each other is the key to whether they can be defended. The three fortresses on the front line were equipped with two generals because they were the first to engage the enemy. After completing the task, the first-line defenders will withdraw to the second-line fortress and join the defenders there, and so on.

At this moment, Zhao Junyi stood up and reached out, pointing at the three fortresses on the front line.

Zhao Zhuoyan didn't wait for him to speak, and said: "Jun Yi, you defend Fortress No. 7."

Zhao Junyi was startled and asked: "Why?"

Fortress No. 7 is located on the third line, closest to the Zhao clan base and the place with the lightest defense pressure. Although there will definitely be troops from the dark race that will circle around from the outside, they are not as powerful as the army chasing Zhang Clan in the middle, and with support from the front and back, it is not difficult to hold on.

Zhao Zhuoyan's face turned gloomy and he said: "Military and national affairs are nothing but child's play. How can you have the strength to defend the fortress in front?"

Zhao Junyi's face turned green and white. Although he was a little unconvinced, Zhao Zhuoyan had a lot of authority. Now that the order had been given, he did not dare to openly disobey it, so he had to sit down depressedly.

It started with Zhao Junyi, and then several generals spoke and chose the fortress. Among them, Zhao Zhuoyan came from the central palace of the town to respond to the surrounding areas. Zhao Junhong, Zhao Fenglei and the two imperial major generals selected the three fortresses on the first line.

At this moment, Zhao Fenglei suddenly said: "No matter how we arrange it, the entire defense system is still weak. There are not enough people!"

Zhao Zhuoyan said calmly: "Yuying will be here tomorrow, and there are two generals at home with her."

Zhao Fenglei shook his head and said: "Even adding Yuying is not enough."

How could Zhao Zhuoyan not know what Zhao Fenglei could see? He sighed and said slowly: "This is unthinkable. The dark race has such a huge force that even Zhang Clan was defeated. How can there be an easy battle? Several fleets in the outer void empire are fighting hard. Maybe we can only wait. They have decided the winner and it will be easier if the dark race is not allowed to add more troops to the floating land."

What if the Imperial Fleet is defeated? More than one person came up with this idea, and then no one thought about it again. If the imperial fleet is defeated, the entire army of more than 100,000 people on the floating land will be doomed to be annihilated. Perhaps only a few noble family members and tyrannical people will be able to escape.

Zhao Fenglei suddenly said: "This battle is crucial, but our Zhao clan's strength seems to have not been fully used."

As soon as these words came out, all eyes fell on Zhao Fenglei. Zhao Zhuoyan's face remained calm, and it was impossible to tell what he was thinking. He just asked: "Why do you say that?"

Zhao Fenglei exhaled and said, "Did you all forget Qianye?"

Zhao Zhuoyan frowned slightly and said nothing for a while.

Zhao Fenglei continued: "If Qianye is here, and he and Jundu are roaming outside to provide support, the dark army will definitely focus on one thing and not the other, and will not be able to siege the fortress with all its strength. The pressure on our defense will be much less."

Zhao Zhuoyan raised his eyebrows slightly, as if he had some intention, but he still sighed and said: "Qianye chose free hunting, and now he is fighting on the Li family's side. After all, he is not from the Zhao clan, and If I don’t serve in our army, I don’t have the authority to dispatch.”

Zhao Fenglei sneered and said: "Why is he not from the Zhao clan? Don't forget, he is in the Fourth Young Master's mansion. Besides, we are fighting for life and death here, but he is here It’s unjustifiable for the Li family to fight for their reward, right? I think it was a critical moment and for the sake of the overall situation, Qianye should be summoned and ordered to return immediately!”

Zhao Junhong stood up and shouted: "No!"