Chapter 358 Du Kecao
A month later, in the province of Barue.
The 100,000-strong army of the Noxian Empire has now gathered in Tiwasser, a small coastal town located outside the Wuji Mountains.
The tranquility of the small town was completely shattered by the iron hoof of the empire. Amid the noise of people and horses, the neighing of drums and horns, there were also dragon dogs, bloodthirsty dragon lizards, flying magic birds, and the roars of countless monsters and ferocious beasts resounded in the surroundings.
Iron crossbows, catapults, mortars, cannons, alchemical rocket launchers, all kinds of horrific war weapons were displayed in front of the formation, aiming at the Wuji Mountain area which had already become a wasteland.
Outside this port, on the calm sea, there were dozens of steam-clad warships as huge as mountains, with turrets like forests, and the Noxian Empire flag hanging high. They were domineering, majestic, terrifying and ferocious.
This is the main fleet of the Noxian Navy led by Admiral Dukor.
The land army surrounded and the sea fleet blockaded.
The Wuji Mountain Area, no, it can be said that the entire Barue Province has now become a desolate place.
The Leader was trapped in a desperate situation, and the location of their base was completely exposed. In the opinion of the Noxian generals, unless the goddess Janna took action personally, they would not be able to hold out for long.
Either they will be quickly crushed by the army, or they will flee in panic before the enemy's attack. There is no third possibility.
But the fact is just the opposite.
"The exact location of the Wind Leader's base was discovered by scouts a month ago."
"The Imperial Army has 100,000 soldiers, while the Zaun Leaders only have 10,000 soldiers. Even if they abandon Zaun and move all their soldiers to Ionia, and add in the new soldiers they recruit in Ionia, the enemy's total strength cannot exceed 20,000."
100,000 versus 20,000, the advantage should be on me.
Now:
"One hundred thousand soldiers of the Empire gathered in Barue and attacked the mountain with all their might for a month. Why have they only blown up a few hilltops and failed to even break into the gate of Wuji Village?!"
"General Lester—"
"Please explain how you have been directing the whole month?"
At a war meeting attended by many generals, a middle-aged man sat at the head of the meeting and questioned Lester in a stern tone.
From his handsome face with sword scars and graying temples, as well as his elegant temperament revealed in his every move, which even the fierceness of a soldier could not cover up, it can be seen that:
This general was most likely born into an aristocratic family in the empire and was a member of the Red and Black Banner of the Immortal Fortress.
And that is exactly the case.
"General Du Coquet." Lester smiled and respectfully called out the general's name.
Du Kekao's ancestors were all nobles, and what was even more commendable was that the Kekao family had always adhered to the spirit of the Noxian Empire that the strong are supreme, and had not relaxed the education and training of their descendants because of the family's power.
Therefore, every generation of the Kao family is almost always an elite of the empire, a deadly assassin, a brave warrior, a respected hero, and a general guarding a region.
Du Coca-Cola did not disgrace his ancestors.
He is the empire's foremost master assassin and one of the few among the old aristocracy who can rival Darius in terms of seniority, military exploits and abilities, making him a general who commands the hearts and minds of the generals.
This time, Darkwill traveled thousands of miles to transfer Du Keao from the western battlefield of Demacia to the easternmost battlefield of Ionia, so that he could personally command the war between the Noxian Empire and the Leader of the Wind as the representative of the old aristocracy.
After all, the Ionian army was originally under the full command of Swain.
The generals of the original Ionian army, such as Lestat, were basically Swain's students and former subordinates.
Now the Empire is fighting with the Windleader in Ionia, but Swain has always kept a strange peace with the Windleader in Piltover.
The old aristocracy would certainly not feel at ease if they did not send one of their own, such as Du Cocao, to be the military supervisor .
As soon as Du Coca arrived in Ionia, he saw the embarrassing scene of the Empire's 100,000-strong army attacking the mountain for a month without any progress. He immediately had opinions about his former commander, General Lester.
Not just opinions, but doubts.
One hundred thousand elite troops spent months and months but failed to capture a small Wuji Village. Lester's command performance can only be described as incompetent.
This makes people wonder if he received remote control orders from his teacher Swain, just like the Swain who is now playing AFK in Piltover, deliberately working without putting in any effort.
"General Du Coquet, I have really tried my best." Lester was also helpless.
Swain did tell him to preserve his strength as much as possible, but he didn't tell him to slack off. He really didn't let up during the one-month attack on the mountain.
"It's not that our army didn't work hard, but the enemy has technology!" Lester complained while explaining: "You will know after two more days of observation at the front line... The firepower of those leaders is too strong. Let alone a hundred thousand troops, even if there are another hundred thousand, we can't break in!"
"Oh?" Du Kecao frowned slightly.
Even a hundred thousand strong imperial troops were no match for the leader's firepower...
Not only did this sound incredible, it also seriously violated his military common sense as a Noxian general.
"Firepower? General Lester, are you saying that... those leaders were able to block the empire's 100,000-strong army outside the mountain with only long-range technological weapons?"
Du Kecao was a little confused.
In his opinion, although guns, artillery, rockets and other technological weapons have certain power, they are ultimately just supporting roles on the battlefield.
What really played a decisive role in the war were the swords, spears, bows, horses and archery left by our ancestors, and the empire's invincible army of extraordinary people.
"General, we have to analyze this issue on a case-by-case basis," Lester said. "If the two armies were to fight on the plains, Zaun's firearms troops would definitely not be able to withstand a mass charge by our dragon lizard knights."
"But this is the Wuji Mountain area."
"The mountain range is rugged, so not only can the cavalry not be effective, but the army is also difficult to deploy. Although the army of 100,000 is large, only a few thousand people can participate in the mountain attack at most."
"What?" Du Kecao frowned and said, "General Lester, don't I know anything about soldiers?"
As a veteran who had been tempered in actual combat, he certainly knew that the mountainous terrain was not conducive to the combat between cavalry and monsters, and that the width of the battle line was limited, which was not conducive to the deployment of a large army.
This will indeed seriously affect the combat effectiveness of the imperial army.
"But the rugged mountain terrain will also seriously affect the firing range of the Leader's firearms troops."
"How can they stop the empire's 100,000-strong army with just technological weapons?"
High-powered firearms such as artillery have limited range in the mountains and are difficult to use flexibly.
And if you use guerrilla tactics, use small-caliber mortars, rocket launchers and other small things to attack at close range...
Then I'm sorry.
By the time you are close enough to sneak attack the imperial soldiers, these muscular men can already shoot you through with their bows and arrows.
Moreover, it is still a question whether the pitiful power of those small rocket launchers and mortars can break through the defense of the Empire's super warriors.
"General du Quochao, you don't know."
"The firearms used by those leaders are not cannons, nor are they rocket launchers or bazookas. Rocket launchers—"
"These bastards." Lester expressed his true feelings and cursed aloud in grievance: "Those bastards used drones!"
"This..." Du Kecao thought for a moment, "You mean, the plane?"
Yes, the "Bluebird 1 UAV" that suppressed Amistan at the beginning is now widely used in the Barue battlefield.
The navigation of this drone relies entirely on the blue bird incarnation of the goddess Gana. The only technical requirement is that it can fly, and its cost is extremely low.
Although it is cheap, it is incredibly powerful.
The maximum payload of this drone can reach two tons, and in the current close-range combat situation, it can also free up load capacity and add more explosives by sacrificing range and reducing fuel.
More than two tons of explosives fell on their heads. Not to mention those elite soldiers who were still within the realm of mortals, even those extraordinary warriors with thick skin and flesh would probably die on the spot.
The most important thing is...
"This thing is not only powerful and accurate, but it also doesn't require a human to pilot it."
"The army attacked the mountain several times, but each time they didn't even see the shadow of the enemy. They didn't even take down a mountaintop before they were bombed to death by suicide drones that fell from the sky."
"Besides, this damn drone has a very long attack range."
"Flying from Wuji Village, even if it's Tiwaser City, which is more than ten kilometers away, the military camp we are in now is completely within their attack range."
As soon as the words fell...
boom!!!
There were bursts of loud thunder above everyone's heads.
Du Kecao was shocked, thinking that the Leader had already reached his camp.
Lester and the others were very calm: "It's okay, General Kekao."
"This is the sound of the drone being intercepted by our air defense wizard."
"Those leaders launch several missiles into our barracks every day. We are used to it."
Kekao: “…”
The enemy attacked the military camp directly in front of an army of 100,000 people, just like punching in for work.
Not only was the imperial army unable to fight back, but they also became accustomed to being beaten, giving rise to a new type of soldier called the "Anti-Air Mage."
Who is hitting whom here?
"I see..." Du Kecao sighed softly.
Although he was very dissatisfied with the battle situation, after understanding the situation, he also realized that the army's setback was not due to war.
Du Kecao was also keenly aware that Leader's "Bluebird Guided Suicide Drone" had completely changed the traditional warfare model.
The war mode in Runeterra has advanced hundreds of years from cold weapon fighting to the threshold of beyond-visual-range information warfare.
The enemy has the advantage of terrain and weapons. In this situation, a mindless attack on the mountain would mean sacrificing lives and consuming the enemy's ammunition and steel.
Although the lives of Noxian people are worthless, the lives of soldiers are very valuable.
It is still unclear whether the lives of these elite soldiers can be exchanged for a pile of cheap scrap metal. Even if it is exchanged, the Noxian Empire will suffer a huge loss.
"What about us? Where are our firearms?"
Du Kecao tried to find a way to cope with it.
The Windlords have firearms, so does Noxus have no firearms?
Not only does Noxus have them, but they are much more numerous than the Leader. Even many of the artillery and rockets of the Noxian army are the same type of goods imported from Zaun.
In terms of firepower scale, Noxus should be stronger than the Leader.
"If attacking the mountain directly doesn't work, we can use cannons to open a path first," said Du Cocao.
"General." Lester immediately questioned: "Cannons can't deal with drones!"
"I didn't ask you to use cannons to deal with drones," Du Kecao said coldly. "I asked you to use cannons to set fire to the mountain and raze the entire mountain range to the ground."
"Wuji Village is deep in the mountains, surrounded by dense trees. All living things will be wiped out by the fire, which will cause the balance to be broken and evil spirits to invade. Once the fire spreads, I don't believe that the leader can stay in it."
Du Kecao's move was extremely vicious and it also sounded feasible.
But Lester said, "No, General Kekao."
He had tried this trick before.
result……
"As soon as our incendiary bombs were launched, they were blown back by a gust of wind. Not only did they not catch fire on any trees, but they also injured many of our soldiers and lost a lot of artillery."
In front of the Leader, Noxus's ranged weapons are equivalent to waste.
"Even if we don't use artillery and send soldiers into the mountains to set fire, the flames will be quickly blown out by the strong wind."
"Even because of the reversal of wind direction, the fire sometimes turned around and burned the soldiers we sent to set the fire to death on the spot..."
Lester complained bitterly, using every trick he could think of:
"I wanted to gather a group of wind elemental mages to seize control of the battlefield wind from the Wind Leader."
Among the 100,000 elite soldiers, Lester could muster more than a hundred wind elemental mages.
However, such a group of powerful extraordinary forces came before the leader...
"Our mages are no match for the Wind Leader."
The goddess who leads the wind is the embodiment of wind.
How could these humans who control the wind element possibly defeat the God of Wind Element?
Trying to rely on the wind elemental mage to break the deadlock head-on is really a bit too much.
“……”So, Du Kecao also fell silent.
He could tell that General Lester had indeed tried his best.
Conventional combat methods seemed to be ineffective in front of this group of leaders.
The 100,000-strong army was of no use at all. Instead, it became a burden that made the logistics department cry, the finance department curse, and wasted money and food in vain.
It seems that I can only use that last trick.
The most simple, practical and efficient move in the extraordinary world——
Gather all the elite warriors and high-level mages, form an assault force composed entirely of extraordinary strong men, and then F2A.
The extraordinary strong have always been the armor-piercing cones of the imperial army. As long as the cone head is heavy and hard enough, it can penetrate everything.
Rough terrain?
Our mages can fly, our warriors can leap a hundred meters, and we have flying mounts.
Firearms are sharp?
Our mage has a shield and the warrior has a thick health bar.
As long as we gather all the extraordinary strong men in the army to launch a charge, are we still afraid that we won’t be able to make the attack even though the mountain road is only a dozen kilometers long?
Du Kecao was speaking his mind.
"Can't attack!" Unexpectedly, Lester sighed again.
This time, there was even a hint of fear in his eyes, as if he was still a little frightened.
"I tried the method you mentioned a few days ago."
"I assembled 500 elite warriors and 300 high-level mages to launch an assault. They are all experienced and powerful warriors in the army who are not afraid of interception by enemy drones."
"At first, the attack went smoothly. But then..."
"What's wrong?" Du Kecao frowned.
"Later..." Lester replied helplessly: "We realized that we were facing far more than just the Leader."
As he spoke, the image of a young girl flashed through his mind.
The girl's incident in Presidium more than a year ago had already left a huge psychological trauma on Lester.
It was only the first time that the other side went into the battlefield, but he defeated tens of thousands of troops led by him and his teacher Swain.
And now, he actually saw her again in Wuji Mountain.
"We are facing Irelia, the Presidian Resistance."
"There are also the Shadow Sect, the Order of the Balance, and the Vastaya..."
Almost all the prominent resistance forces in Ionia came to help.
Therefore, even if we only consider high-end combat power, the Leader is now not inferior to the Imperial Army.
"This..." Du Kecao immediately realized the seriousness of the problem.
It turned out that the Leader had unknowingly colluded with the local forces of Ionia and invited such heavyweight reinforcements.
It seems that the 100,000-strong army of Noxus really has no way to deal with these leaders hiding in the mountains.
"If I must say..." Suddenly, Lester muttered, "It's not that we don't have a solution."
"Oh?" Du Kecao looked over.
“The same method used by General Urgot,” Lester said carefully.
"You..." Du Kecao's face darkened.
Lester had already thought of this idea without him having to remind him.
The Wind Leaders are a bunch of good guys. As long as Noxus continues to massacre the city, they will definitely come down the mountain to rescue people.
In this way, Noxus switched from being an attacker to a defender, completely offsetting the leader's geographical advantage.
Lester knew that this trick would work, but the death of Urgot was a lesson for him. He knew very well that whoever continued to massacre the city would be the number one enemy of the Leader.
In order to preserve his strength, he is not willing to take the lead.
But...
"General Cocao, please think about it..." Lester encouraged Du Cocao without any hesitation.
He himself didn't have the courage to be the first to take action, but he had enough courage to encourage Du Kecao to do the dirty work.
Not only is there, but it's huge.
He wished that Du Kecao of the old aristocracy would be targeted by the enemy right now and fight with the Leader and Irelia to a draw.
Lester thought so, but...
"That's enough!" Du Kekao just replied unhappily: "I am not Urgot, and I am not you."
Although he was a master assassin and imperial general who had killed countless people, massacring civilians was not his fighting style.
Many Noxian generals had records of massacring cities, but he had never done that.
"So how do you plan to deal with these leaders?" Lester asked.
Du Kecao fell into deep thought and kept silent.
"General?" Lester probed.
“……”Du Kecao was still thinking.
"This..." Lester wanted to ask again.
At this time, Du Kecao replied: "I have my own way."
Having said that, he did not explain too much to Lester, but just hurriedly ended the meeting after some small talk.
After the meeting, Du Kecao avoided everyone and returned to the tent.
At this time, he was heard to instruct the adjutant beside him:
"Ask Katarina and Tyrone to come over - I have a secret mission that needs to be assigned to them."
