“Ms. Sylvie has confirmed that there are no other devils nearby!”
“If the enemy launches an attack from this distance, we will have at least five minutes to react.”
“Five minutes is enough for the anti-aircraft machine gun squad to prepare. What about the threat assessment?”
“The known enemy has not detected any high-ranking devils, and the threat to Her Majesty the Queen is almost zero.”
“If construction continues as usual, the biggest potential loss may come from the rail transport group, which is densely populated and difficult to evacuate, with an estimated one to two casualties.”
The command post was a hive of activity. After analyzing the intelligence and repeated discussions, conclusions were listed on the display board one by one—this was a habit that the staff had gradually developed. In the face of complex information, words and language were harder to ignore.
“In summary,” Filin. Sylvie placed a hand on her chest and said to Tie Axe, “We believe that the benefits of continuing construction outweigh the benefits of defending in place. This may make the devils understand our intentions, but this was originally within His Majesty Roland's plan. As for the four flying devils, just maintain a minimum level of surveillance.”
In short, the conclusion drawn from all the information combined was "no fear of threats."
Although the role of the staff was only to assist in analysis and provide suggestions, the final decision-maker was Tie Axe himself, but this conclusion coincided with his own thoughts.
The First Army was no longer the ancient army of four hundred years ago. Even a vanguard of five thousand men was enough to be considered a behemoth. Four Furies alone could never shake their formation. Exchanging the deaths of one or two laborers for the destruction of the enemy could not even be considered a loss to His Majesty's plan.
After all, the risks of coming to the barren land were written into the contract.
Tie Axe looked at Iytis, who remained silent.
In the command post, silence meant default.
“I understand. Then let the construction team resume work, the anti-aircraft machine gun squad continues to stay in position and be on alert, and the others remain on standby as usual.” Just as Tie Axe was about to issue an order to the adjutant, Iytis suddenly spoke.
Not to him, but to Agatha, Phyllis, and others.
“Do you have a way to directly swat those flies to death?”
“You mean... take the initiative?” Agatha frowned.
“That's right. I don't think it's a good thing to let them keep watching.” The Pearl of the North nodded. “As far as I know, those two flying little girls have considerable combat abilities, right? With Ms. Dawn's cooperation, perhaps they can be wiped out in one fell swoop. This matter is beyond the capabilities of the First Army, and only you can do it.”
“This...” Agatha hesitated. “In theory, there is no risk to their attack only when there are only two devils. Otherwise, it would be difficult to dodge at close range once the enemy launches a javelin. Even if Andrea goes first, there are still three left...”
She spoke slower and slower, because even she herself felt that this argument was quite far-fetched.
Since it was war, it was impossible to have no risks, especially this battle that determined the future of the race. In order to seek a glimmer of hope, tens of millions of witches had died under the devils' blades. Lightning was no more special than others.
But the truth was that after entering the Fertile Plains, she had noticed the other party's abnormality—although Lightning tried her best to hide it, Agatha, who had experienced the Battle of Divine Will, was no stranger to this state, which was the confused emotion caused by encountering an unimaginably powerful enemy. Because the enemy's strength created an illusion of invincibility, many battle-hardened Holy Guard witches could not escape. To adjust, apart from drugs and abilities, they had to rely on themselves to recover bit by bit.
In order to defeat the devils, Agatha did not care about the size of the risk. If the benefits were great enough, she would go all out even for a plan with ten deaths and no life—she believed that other survivors of Taqila would make the same choice.
But Lightning was different. Forcing her to face the devils in this state was no longer a matter of risk, but of sending her to her death.
She could not fear the risks, but she could not push the other party into the abyss with her own hands, especially a partner who was called a sister.
After reawakening in Neverwinter, she found that she had been changed a lot by this group of witches.
“Is that so...” Iytis raised her eyebrows, unexpectedly not insisting. “What if it's just driving them away? Use the magic ark to hide ourselves, and let Ms. Dawn find an opportunity to attack, kill one if we can—I think this is better than letting the other party watch.”
Agatha and Tie Axe exchanged glances. “That's not a problem. I'll notify the special operations squad.”
……
In the following ten days, a special "understanding" was formed between the devils and the First Army.
Almost every day, a team of Fearful Beasts would wander around the outer perimeter of the defense line, sometimes increasing to two or three teams, and the direction of appearance was also different. However, in Sylvie's vision, their actions were not concealed at all. Before they even entered the range visible to the naked eye, the First Army had already learned of their whereabouts in advance.
Probably because there was no opportunity to take advantage of, the enemy had never launched an attack except for flying along.
In the beginning, the existence of the devils had a certain impact on the construction team, but after a few days, everyone got used to this situation and worked hard as usual—after all, the "potential threat" was far away, but the earned reward was close at hand.
The only "incoordination" during this period came from Andrea.
Whenever a devil was shot down, the crowd would erupt in enthusiastic cheers.
This process was completely unpredictable. Sometimes it would not happen in a day, and sometimes it would happen two or three times.
Although most people did not know the existence of the special operations squad, there was no doubt that the army was taking countermeasures.
Even a novel form of gambling had spread among the workers.
That was guessing the end of the devil.
How many will come today, and how many will be able to return? This small game during a busy schedule was very popular among everyone.
As the project progressed very smoothly, the First Army soon advanced to the second node of the railway.
According to the battle plan, a station would be set up every fifty kilometers on the railway line not protected by the Misty Forest. Bunkers built of reinforced concrete were enough to ensure that the First Army could resist devils several times their number with a small garrison. At the same time, the vanguard and the army could take care of each other, and logistics would become more convenient.
The stations were protected by armored trains cruising on the railway. Even if a section of the track was destroyed by the enemy, it would not be too difficult to repair.
It can be said that with these stations, it became impossible for the enemy to uproot the "Black River" in a short period of time—they were like nails, allowing the First Army to take root firmly in this vast land.
And what they have to do now is to nail down the second iron nail—"Tower No. 1 Station".