"Oh, you object?" Lin Lei looked at Watz in puzzlement.
He thought the suggestion was fairly reasonable — launching a preemptive strike while the enemy's formation was in disarray could indeed deal a serious blow to the Church of Light and the Church of Darkness.
Watz replied respectfully, "Lord Lin Lei, I object to this proposal for three main reasons."
Three reasons?
Lin Lei admitted that when it came to matters of warfare, he was no expert. He listened carefully to Watz's response.
"First, the chances of successfully carrying out this plan are not great. The distance from Code City to the Liuyan River is dozens of li. If we send troops over there, by the time they arrive, the enemy forces that have crossed the river will likely number over a million. Moreover, part of their troops will have already reorganized into proper formation."
Bak shook his head. "Getting over a million men into battle-ready formation and keeping them that way at all times — that's no easy task."
Watz nodded. "That's true. I'm only saying that part of their forces should be prepared for battle. We have five hundred thousand men in total — how many can we spare for a sneak attack? That's only the first point. The second point… I believe the commanders of the Church of Light and the Church of Darkness would not make such a crude error."
"If I were the opposing commander," Watz said with a smile, "the first thing I would do is send elite units across first, then stage a 'chaotic' appearance among the forces that have crossed the river to lure the enemy into attacking. When the enemy actually takes the bait and attacks, the elite units would immediately deliver a devastating counterblow."
"You must understand, our greatest advantage is this fortified city!" Watz said firmly. "With this city in our possession, for every one of our men they kill, we've probably already killed three of theirs. They want nothing more than to lure us into fighting them on open ground."
Lin Lei nodded in agreement.
Watz continued, "As for the third reason — in this war, tactics are secondary; strategy comes first. Our objective is to keep the enemy out of our defenses and prevent them from breaching the city. That is the foremost priority. As long as we achieve that, we've won this war."
"So there's no need to take the 'opening' they're showing us. Who knows whether it was deliberately staged?"
Watz smiled calmly. "All we need to do is stay here in Code City, relying on the advantages of our fortifications, and hold our ground. Barring any surprises, victory will be ours."
A night passed, and dawn was just breaking.
The black-robed archbishop Vispert, mounted on a dark magical tiger, gazed toward the direction of Code City.
"Gilmour, I have a feeling this war is going to be very difficult for us," Vispert said, frowning. "I've deliberately slowed our river crossing as much as I could, and the forces on the other side appear 'disorganized,' yet Code City seems to have noticed nothing at all — not a single soldier sent out to attack."
Gilmour nodded.
They had prepared a feast, waiting for the enemy to come. But it had failed.
Now the entire army had crossed the river and rested through the night, and was advancing toward Code City at a steady pace. The Church of Darkness and the Church of Light had each gathered eight hundred thousand troops this time. Together, that made a full one million six hundred thousand soldiers. Such a terrifying force blanketed the sky and earth, stretching beyond the horizon.
"I'm not afraid of Lin Lei's side having a smart or cunning commander," Vispert said. "What I fear is him cowering in that city like a turtle in its shell."
Gilmour nodded again.
Relying on the advantages of the city, even if they could breach Code City by storm, the losses on both sides would be catastrophic. Although they had 1.6 million troops, they were not willing to waste vast numbers of lives.
"Vispert," Gilmour asked, "so what should we do?"
The commanders of this operation were naturally Gilmour and Vispert. However, in terms of strategy, Gilmour was still inferior to Vispert. Vispert smiled faintly. "There's no other way. Let us first go and probe the enemy's true strength."
Know yourself, know your enemy, and you need never fear a hundred battles.
All of Code City had been turned into a massive fortress. Every resident had long since been evacuated. Numerous buildings had been converted — tunnels, traps… The south wall and the east wall were packed with large numbers of soldiers, while the west and north walls had far fewer.
All manner of equipment and siege tools had been transported to the ramparts.
Lin Lei and Bak, both wearing armor, walked along the south wall disguised as officers. The ramparts were a hive of activity — soldiers stood packed along walls stretching dozens of li, with over a hundred thousand men on the south wall alone.
"So many people," Lin Lei and Bak said, gazing into the distance.
Like a dense swarm of locusts, the Church of Light and Church of Darkness's 1.6 million-strong army blanketed the earth, steadily surging toward Code City. One million six hundred thousand! Easy to say, but when so many men formed an army and came marching…
The heart trembles.
Even Lin Lei felt the oppressive weight of it all.
"How many will die in this battle?" Bak murmured with a sigh.
Lin Lei looked at the dense ranks of soldiers along the wall and felt how truly brutal war was. But ever since human society had existed, wars had never stopped. Although Lin Lei and the others could see the armies of the Church of Light and the Church of Darkness…
In truth, those armies were still far away from Lin Lei's position.
It was just that the enemy force was so enormous that even from a great distance, the soldiers on the wall could see them.
"Let's go to Watz — he's the commander, and he absolutely cannot be put at risk under any circumstances." Lin Lei led Bak toward the tower above the south gate, where Watz was stationed in an inconspicuous small watchtower beside the main structure.
Watz immediately saluted when he saw Lin Lei and Bak approaching.
"Watz, Lin Lei and I came here to make sure you stay safe," Bak said with a smile.