Meanwhile, in the central tent of the Northern Garrison, everyone was busy preparing for the upcoming interception.
"Entrust the entire front line to the witches?" After listening to Edith's arrangement, "Hawk Face" revealed a surprised expression. "It's not that I don't believe in their abilities, but the Dawn Sect has at least ten thousand people, and many of them are equipped with God's Punishment Stones. Facing them head-on may put the witches in a difficult battle. Even if we want to help then, I'm afraid we won't be able to."
"I thought so at first," Edith smiled. "In fact, this plan didn't come from the staff department, but from His Majesty the King's idea."
"Is there a formal record?" asked the deputy battalion commander.
"Here," Northern Pearl handed him a confidential letter marked with a red seal. "By the way, the end of the letter grants me the power to temporarily act as commander."
According to the rules of the First Army, the pre-war strategy for any military operation must be formed into a paper record and reviewed and signed by staff personnel of the corresponding level. If the signatory is Roland, it means that any army must unconditionally execute it.
After Hawk Face confirmed that there were no errors, he immediately stood up straight and saluted. "The Northern Garrison guarantees the completion of the mission!"
"Very good," Edith raised the corner of her mouth. "But remember one thing, your purpose is to give the fleeing enemy a devastating blow. The focus is on the word 'fleeing.' If the prerequisite does not exist, it will be considered a combat failure. All ambush personnel will return to the cloud ladder by the original route and must not engage the enemy without authorization—be sure to make this order clear to everyone."
"You mean... retreat?" Hawk Face asked in surprise. "Doesn't His Majesty know if his method will work?"
"Who knows until you try?" Northern Pearl said frankly. "If this method doesn't work, we'll have to consider other methods... His Majesty sent me here precisely to prevent the unexpected."
"What about the witches?"
"Even if it fails, they won't be in any danger."
"Understood. I'll go prepare now, and each squad can depart early tomorrow morning." Hawk Face saluted again.
"This operation is code-named Bomber Action. When you are in position, the battle will officially begin." Edith returned a military salute. "Go."
"Yes!"
Although he didn't know what a bomber was, Hawk Face felt a little more confidence in his heart. Anything that could be called a "machine" by His Majesty must be extraordinary—wasn't the steam engine an excellent example?
*******************
Two days later, Lightning finally received the departure order at the camp.
"Maggie has transported all personnel into place. You can set off." Sylvie's voice came from the Listening Talisman in her hand. "The Dawn Army is gathering and setting up camp. I hope you can make it in time."
"Don't worry, we'll be there soon." After the little girl finished speaking, she waved to Maisie and Hummingbird who were traveling with her. "Come on, we should go!"
In the past two days, she not only checked the map of Cloud Ladder from the air, but also looked at the general situation of the surrounding areas. His Majesty's plan was not complicated. There were six witches in total as reinforcements, who were divided into two groups according to the combat plan. One group was responsible for ensuring transportation and logistics, and its core ability was Maggie's Magic Ark. In addition, Sylvie and Lily were also on board. The former ensured early detection and early firing, while the latter was to target the evil epidemic created by the church—if the Dawn Army invaded the Old Holy City, it would be difficult to guarantee that the church would not go all out and release pathogens on a large scale in the city.
The other group was the core of this operation.
"Woof!"
"Coo!"
Hummingbird sat in the bracket, held the connecting rods on both sides, and let the magic flow continuously into the rods. After a while, the iron frame, which His Majesty called the "Dongfeng," along with nine aerial bombs, was reduced to about one percent of its original weight, which was also the carrying limit after Maisie's transformation.
Then the white-haired little girl transformed into a giant beast, lying on the bracket, and Lightning connected the fixed cloth straps and ropes, and the Dongfeng instantly formed a whole with Maisie.
Since Hummingbird's ability could not work on living things, the weight Maisie carried was basically equal to a witch plus a portable aerial bomb rack of the same weight as the witch. As long as the weight reduction effect could be maintained, she could perform precise strike missions in the air for a long time.
This was also an improvement made by Roland based on the post-war report after conquering the capital using hydrogen balloon bombing tactics.
Compared with air balloons, Maisie's flying speed was much faster and she was more flexible when performing tasks. If dive bombing was used, the correction process of Lightning could also be saved, allowing the latter to have sufficient energy to carry out reconnaissance and guidance work.
Of course, Hummingbird's magic could not support the entire day of "Dongfeng" flight. Although the training of transporting artillery had greatly increased her magic level, it was considered very good to last for half a day for aerial bombs with huge volume and amazing weight. After all, the bomb body, guidance head, and charge of aerial bombs were usually transported separately.
Fortunately, half a day was enough for the Dawn Army, which was close at hand.
"All roads are clear, take off, repeat, take off!" Lightning pulled down her goggles and jumped into the air.
"Ah... here we go again," Hummingbird covered her forehead and sighed.
"Aooooooo————!"
When Maisie flapped her broad wings, the ground seemed to rise a huge shadow. The tents in the camp swayed from side to side in the air waves, like a strong wind passing through. Then she adjusted her direction and flew towards the foot of the Hermes Mountains.
Half an hour later, the three successfully flew to the sky above the Old Holy City and easily found the target of this operation—a large army of tens of thousands of people was very conspicuous even when looking down from high altitude. This army looked like an overflowing stream from a distance. The rear could barely maintain its formation, but when it reached the city, it had completely dispersed. Countless colorful spots slowly wriggled like ants, eroding the territory of the Old Holy City bit by bit.
Lightning didn't like the church at all. Their current misfortune could only be said to be retribution, but besides believers, there were many innocent people in the city—especially the orphans the church had abducted from various places, who were still being held in several monasteries.
They should not be buried here with the Old Holy City.
The little girl took a deep breath and kept raising her altitude until she felt a little difficulty breathing. Then she opened her arms and began to dive along the "stream" line—but in the completely opposite direction.
The rapid descent made her internal organs seem to move backward. This process should not be very comfortable, but there was a sense of exhilarating pleasure.
Lightning didn't look back. She knew Maisie would follow behind—years of getting along had made the two's cooperation seamless.
The people and things on the ground were rapidly expanding. Some knights had obviously noticed the black shadow descending from the sky. She could even vaguely see the fear on the other's faces.
When the person and beast flew to the section where people gathered, Lightning suddenly pulled up her body and shouted, "Now, drop the bomb!"
Hummingbird, sitting in the bracket, forcefully pulled down the movable switch.