Above The Sky
Chapter 772 - 772 23 The Advantage is Mine!_2

772: Chapter 23: The Advantage is Mine!_2 772: Chapter 23: The Advantage is Mine!_2 However, in other respects, such as the large-scale military operations of the Rebel Highlanders, Nauman City certainly had comprehensive knowledge.

In light of this, the youth inquired whether he needed to hold back, and Colonel Mayowa tactfully informed Ian that they did not need prisoners, but how to proceed was up to Ian himself.

He was now a lord, and there was no need to pay too much attention to their suggestions.

——Hmm.

It seems the traitor is not among these three tribes attacking Leyan Territory.

Once he knew the enemy’s route of action, Ian had a new idea.

He personally led a group of craftsmen and hired workers from the Alchemy Workshop to join the militia outside the city, laying metal strips with Thunderstone Powder and magnetosilver components, as well as some metal poles disguised as branches, towering “Lightning Attractors.”

“Did you hear what the lord said?

Install these metal poles on the trunks of some large trees, and remember they must be taller than the treetops!”

“The Thunderstone Powder should be spread around the center of the metal poles, hidden under the fallen leaves.”

“Bury the magnetosilver alloy wires underground, covered with a layer of loose soil…

Don’t get any ideas.

Lord has said anyone caught hoarding magnetosilver wires will end up like Chairman Silin!”

“What happened to Chairman Silin?

His head is burnt to ash, simply put he’s dead; do you understand?!”

It must be said, the average quality of people here in Terra is not that great; there were indeed workers responsible for the construction who considered hoarding magnetosilver wires.

Only after hearing the foreman’s death threat did they secretly return them…

Of course, Ian saw all of this, but he also knew that in this era of Terra, this was the general standard of most people, and one couldn’t be too demanding.

As long as they returned them later, he would turn a blind eye.

South Ridge is a place with frequent rains and thunderstorms.

Seeing Ian’s actions, even the dimmest worker could understand what their lord intended to do — but what they still didn’t quite grasp was why Ian could be so sure that it would rain when the enemy attacked if it were simply usual lightning attractors?

Could it be that the lord is a Prophet?

After all the advance preparations were made, Ian began assigning battle tasks.

“In three days.

Three days from now, in the early morning, the Highlanders will complete their preparations and then start their trial assault on Leyan City.”

“What we must do is force the Highlanders to engage in battle with us as quickly as possible, to accelerate their movements rather than carefully scouting the surroundings of Leyan City to determine our strengths and weaknesses before attacking.”

“Green Tide, you lead a Magnetic Storm Squad to cut off and harass the Highlanders’ supply lines.

If the situation is unfavorable and it doesn’t rain, use the Charged Rifles or explosives for long-range attacks.”

“Scott, at the right moment, fire the Rainfall Shells from the Alchemical Cannon — the troops will be under your command, proceed with the tactics we determined in our meeting.”

The actual effectiveness of the Rainfall Shells had already been tested by Ian’s team in the vicinity of Gold Leaf Town.

An hour after being fired from the Alchemical Cannon, it would start raining.

Although the process was somewhat slow, if Ian himself entered the cloud layer and conducted artificial catalysis, he could accelerate the process to a matter of minutes.

However, Ian would ultimately need to pilot his Armor Suit to hold off the enemy’s main fighting force — so it still depended on Scott’s judgment.

All the necessary preparations were made, and what followed was the waiting for the enemy to arrive.

And the Rebel Highlanders were just as the intelligence from Nauman City had described.

Three days later, they set off on time.

The Highlander’s tri-tribe alliance emerged from the entrance of Solitary Flame Peak, driving Magical Beasts, charging directly toward Leyan City!

A thousand-man troop.

The number may not sound like much, but for Terra, a fully armored force with skilled combat experience, supplemented by several members of the Second Energy Level with Armor Suits, was considered elite on a local scale.

Bison Mountain Range, Southeastern Mountains.

A well-disciplined army split into several squads, advancing with uniform steps.

They were like a river armed with steel, with trained beasts and Magical Beasts moving alongside the scouts, scouring the surrounding woods for possible Leyan City scouts — they knew the new lord of Leyan was a master, even Martin of the Xuānfēng Sect had been defeated by him, so the tri-tribe alliance did not dare to underestimate the enemy.

Instead, they marched with utmost seriousness and caution to prevent being disrupted by surprise attacks from their opponent.

In fact, the Highlanders’ scouts had already reported the changes in Leyan City, and they knew that with Magnetic Storm Coils and various small fortifications, Leyan City was a tough nut to crack…

They were also ready for a tough fight.

“Really a tough one to deal with,” he said.

Chief Sheyan, the leader of the tripartite forces this time, was a pale-skinned, gaunt man resembling a snake.

Despite his appearance, he didn’t give off an effeminate vibe but rather an alert sense of danger––Iron Rock Snakes may not be venomous, but they are the best at digging holes and creating traps.

They excel in crushing the bones of their victims caught in the sharp rock traps with their robust bodies before swallowing them whole.

However, at the same time, Iron Rock Snakes would never actively attack beasts or Magical Beasts that seemed weaker than themselves.

Chief Sheyan was the perfect epitome of his Bloodline, precisely because he excelled in conspiracies and trap attacks, making him even more cautious to avoid being outsmarted by someone more cunning.

Despite this caution, Chief Sheyan furrowed his brows upon receiving the scout’s report, “This new Lord of Leyan City, that young brat named Ian, why is he chickening out like a rock turtle, just holed up in his nest and not coming out?”

“Not youthful and impulsive at all…

not cute in the slightest.”

Everyone knew the gap between the Mountain Troops and those of Leyan City, and even defenders wouldn’t likely withstand a nearly tenfold difference in manpower.

Therefore, as long as the Lord of Leyan City was clever enough, he would try to employ various methods to chip away at the Mountain Troops’ combat power while they were marching.

Sheyan was always on the lookout for traps, even intentionally letting the leading forces relax their vigilance to coax Ian into attacking…

but the youth didn’t take the bait, stubbornly holding back, determined to engage them in a fortified battle of attrition.

If that was the case, even if they won, their losses would undoubtedly be heavy!

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

Just as Chief Sheyan was frowning and pondering how to minimize his side’s losses to take Leyan City with as little cost as possible, he suddenly heard several sounds of cannon fire coming from very far away, but still faintly audible.

“Leyan City is starting to shell us now?”

Chief Sheyan was momentarily stunned, a sense of unease in his heart, but he couldn’t quite understand why Leyan City would waste expensive Alchemic Cannonballs…

How could they hit anything from there?

They were still in the forest!

“Chieftain.”

After a while, a messenger came over: “Chief Zhenzhou and Chief Tiechen are asking what we should do next?

It seems like Leyan City has discovered us.”

“What else can we do?

Those two brainless fools, do they really think we could keep our march hidden from Leyan City?”

Chief Sheyan’s face twitched, feeling like answering that question would truly bring him down to the intelligence level of those two: “Tell them we continue to advance, build temporary positions in the direction close to Leyan City, push forward step by step, it doesn’t matter if we are deadlocked with the enemy.”

“I will lead my troops to dig tunnels underground and attempt a surprise attack on the city—If all else fails, we’ll collapse the enemy’s fortifications before attacking.”

As he spoke, Chief Sheyan confidently smiled: “After all, we’re not the ones in a hurry.”

The order was given, and the Mountain Troops continued to advance in an orderly manner.

Soon, they reached a gentle riverside woodland close to Leyan City.

There was a slow-flowing stream, and a little further, there was a slightly higher hilly area.

Building a tower there would allow them to see the edges of Leyan City from afar and use the hills to avoid direct cannon fire from the city.

“Rest and refit for a while!

Later, have the baggage train build fortifications here!”

Chief Sheyan ordered, truly not in a rush.

The Mountain Troops together numbered close to fifteen hundred, while Leyan City’s combatants, including the poorly trained militia, barely tallied three hundred.

––Fifteen hundred against three hundred, the advantage is ours!

He dared to make such a statement.

And just then.

The rain began to fall.