Boiling Beast Bloodline-Chapter 2261 - 689: Final Battle Countdown [15]

The first shot of the ultimate battle was fired in Caiyu City.

But this first shot was not fired, as the Six-winged Heavenly King Atest anticipated, by Prince Yuwu openly defying the imperial order to lead the Demon Clan army. Instead, under Rommel’s command, the army of Caiyu City took the initiative to launch an assault, sounding the death knell for the decisive battle.

Richard was very clear about why he was assigned to this city by Richard.

Although the Swan High Priest Mourinho is renowned far and wide with extraordinary strength, he has no known outstanding achievements in the military field. As the saying goes, "every trade has its specifics," a famous priest and a renowned commander are fundamentally different, and having served in the military does not equate to commanding a battle.

However, after arriving at Caiyu City, Rommel still felt that Richard underestimated Mourinho.

The Swan High Priest is indeed a genius’s genius! Just a glance at Caiyu City’s defensive measures, and Richard affirmed this conclusion filled with exclamations.

Facing east to west, Caiyu City is backed by the snowy mountains, flanked on both sides by dense and lush pine forests. The massive, solid tree wall built against the mountain includes the mountain cliffs and cascading spring, forming the city. On the steep and towering snowy cliffs, platforms have been carved out by the citizens of Caiyu City as bases for Stone Throwers and ballistae—an excellent vantage point.

The arrow towers on the broad tree wall of the city wall are imposing and strict; War Ancient Trees are garrisoned with vigilant sentinels, and well-trained soldiers are ready for battle. The barracks and strategic reserve warehouses within the city walls are structurally reasonable, making it very easy for the city wall’s guards to coordinate. This city defense layout is obviously the product of an expert’s careful design. Utilizing the unique geographical conditions, Caiyu City not only takes full advantage of the natural high ground of the snowy mountain cliffs but also uses the primeval forest to shield the flanks of the city. Once the war breaks out, the attackers can only launch a one-directional offense from the west to the south, and the defenders only need to concentrate their efforts on defending the five-mile west wall, with no need to worry about threats from other directions, greatly saving military resources.

The most insidious part is that Mourinho has built Caiyu City deep in the pine forest. If one wants to enter Caiyu City from the Donau Wasteland, they must first traverse a narrow path through the woods! This poses another major challenge for large troop movements. Without first clearing a sufficiently large open ground in the pine forest, not to mention heavy machinery, even the troops cannot deploy before Caiyu City.

The pine forest at the foot of the snowy mountain is a primordial forest, with each pine tree over a thousand years old and at least ten arm spans wide; it’s not an easy task to fell such strong-rooted old trees on a large scale.

Even if the enemy can posture, the 15-meter-high tree wall of Caiyu City, with its geometric cut angles and complex intersecting fire structures, would be a nightmare for any attacker! Richard is a super expert in siege and territorial conquest, and he knows that in the era of cold weapons, there is no military fortress harder to conquer than a polygonal-structured city like this! This is the crystallization of Aegean Humans’ wisdom, a fruition of defense art that has been quantified and refined!

The Elves certainly could not create such an extremely military-oriented tree city; this is evidently the masterpiece of the Swan High Priest.

However, from the tree wall’s exterior, Rommel still noticed some Elf-styled defensive measures; the thick layer of thorny vines clinging to the wall, which only Aegeanian Mainz would use—these giant rose-like vines, each as thick as a child’s arm, entwine like a monstrous serpent. Amongst the lush, verdant foliage clusters of finger-thick brown thorns grow densely. If a warrior from the attacking side is pricked by these, it would be no better than getting stabbed with a dagger; the huge scars and tree hollows on the tree wall’s surface are undoubtedly hidden firing points.

What’s most distinctive is that the front area of Caiyu City hasn’t dug a moat, but instead, the inside of the tree wall is imbued with ankle-deep warm water. This water is drawn from hot spring waterfalls flowing down the snowy mountain, its droplets elegant and beautiful, steaming with heat. Although it’s winter, it blooms with a colorful array of floating flowers and great-leafed water lilies, splendidly picturesque—obviously an artificial wetland set up for fire prevention.

The houses in the city are also quite unique; atop the crowns of the old pines are stretched spider web-like complex vine bridges, swaying leisurely among the grand treehouses, completely negating the need to step on solid ground. If the Demon Clan’s Stone Throwers wish to attack this city, they would first have to ask the resilient tree crowns for permission! 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

City siege and defense are extreme forms of combat competing in will and endurance; among various battlefield types, the technical content of sieging and defending cities is the least. Achieving what Caiyu City has is already not simple.

Taking note of Caiyu City’s high-end lineup, Rommel was secretly astounded: Snowfield Faceless Giant Beast, Jingwei Phoenix, Liverpool Vermilion Bird, Nemie Giant Lion, Fire Phoenix, Moon White Tiger, Deep Ocean Blue Extreme Seal, Emperor Clam, Moon Elf Mage, Sky Giant... just what kind of strength is this that a noble territory could possess...

"A beautiful and sturdy city, a commander adept at military strategy, and a powerful elite army." This is Rommel’s evaluation of Caiyu City, Mourinho, and the garrison of Caiyu City.