𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟓𝟎.2: 𝐀𝐫𝐦𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡 (4)
An army of steel advancing, burning the demons with white flames.
This was the image of the Imperial Army witnessed by the people of the Duchy of Milan.
News of their victory quickly spread through newspapers, and the Emperor immediately ordered increased production of white phosphorus shells. Oswald went a step further and developed white phosphorus shells with delayed fuses, specifically for aerial bombardment by the Air Force.
However, the victory in the Duchy of Milan was short-lived. . . Rome, the capital of the Francia Peninsula, eventually fell into enemy hands.
“Their advance is incredibly fast, isn’t it?”
The chaos demon of truth forces had crossed the Apennine Mountains and attacked Rome. It was no surprise, considering that most of their troops consisted of flying demons like the harpies and garudas.
Of course, not all of them were flying demons, as evidenced by the ground-based demons that had invaded the Duchy of Milan.
The problem was that these demons had no need for prisoners. As predicted, the chaos forces occupying Rome were using the residents as sacrifices to draw a summoning circle across the entire city. With a population of hundreds of thousands, sacrificing an entire city would allow them to summon an even more powerful army.
【Hurry! 】
Therefore, Oswald mobilized the Air Force and Navy to cross the Balearic Sea. While the Air Force could have gone ahead, facing the enemy alone would have been risky, hence the joint operation with the Navy.
The Marseille Fleet, along with the Iberian United Military District Fleet, the Transport Squadron, and the Carrier Squadron, were all mobilized, resulting in hundreds of ships traversing the sea.
Learning of this through his followers, Solomon planned to counter them by drawing a summoning circle in Rome and summoning weapons. Currently, he had summoned an army of demons with little to no equipment, but soon, he would bring forth aerial battleships and various armored units.
Thanks to Oswald, the chaos demon of truth had acquired extensive knowledge and, unlike other demons, had a strong interest in armored warfare. Using resources from various worlds, they had built up their forces in the chaos world.
Soon, the summoning circle was completed, and the summoning ritual commenced. A blue pillar of light shot up, visible even to Oswald as he crossed the sea.
What emerged from the summoning circle were twelve aerial battleships and over 500 chaos of truth tanks. These tanks were vastly different from the Empire’s Tiger tanks, so enormous that they could be considered land battleships.
Unlike the Tiger tank with its single turret and main gun, these were multi-turreted tanks. They were long, with one main turret and two secondary turrets.
“We’re a step behind.”
And the first to arrive at the scene was none other than Blast Grave McRee, the Grand Gun Master of the Dark Brotherhood. With a cigarette in his mouth, he turned around and asked,
“What are we going to do now?”
“Hmm. . . I can’t handle them all by myself. I have no choice. . . We’ll have to gather all the brothers for this.”
“What about the ones in the east?”
“Tell the eastern brothers to focus on defending the east. Only the western ones will come over.”
“Got it. I’ll contact them. So, where’s the meeting point?”
“Hmm. . . . . . Corsica would be good. I heard that the army led by that guy has already arrived in Corsica.”
🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸
Corsica.
Oswald had set up a temporary headquarters here, planning to use Corsica as a supply base for the upcoming battle.
“Where’s the army?”
“They’re passing through Marseille now.”
Oswald had promoted Yuilhan to Lieutenant General and entrusted him with command of the army. Dominika was currently with Oswald to lead the landing forces.
“Tell the army to focus on securing the northern Francia plains by joining forces with the Central Military District troops.”
The northern Francia plains were considered the breadbasket of the Francia Peninsula.
“In the current situation, we have two options: either land in Genoa, join forces with the army, pacify the north, and then advance south, or land in Naples, push north, and crush the enemy from both sides with the Central Military District and our army acting as the anvil.”
Most of the staff officers favored the latter option. The former carried the risk of the enemy retreating south and summoning additional troops.
Therefore, landing in the south to prevent the enemy from leaving central Francia Peninsula, including Rome, and employing a hammer and anvil strategy to annihilate them from both sides was deemed the most rational approach.
“Ah! And I heard the Church is sending troops towards the northern Francia plains.”
The Vatican Guard, along with paladins and champions, would be dispatched to participate in the holy war.
“Alright, let’s get ready.”