Chapter 454 Desperate Situation

"These are the recruits we can recruit." Lu Yuan looked at the 50,000 people in front of him and said softly.

Next to him, Ning Rongrong looked at the 50,000 recruits recruited from the Principality of Hel. Some of them looked like middle-aged men in their thirties and forties, some were young people in their twenties, and even some Only sixteen or fifteen years old.

Now is no longer the time to talk about humanitarianism. These are the new recruits recruited by Lu Yuan after he talked about a little bit of humanity.

This time, the Principality of Hel recruited more than 50,000 young adults. Mainly because Lu Yuan said that there were three young adults or more, father and brother, or two fathers and sons in the family, so he recruited his father and two brothers as soldiers. If so, his elder brother will be conscripted as a soldier. If there is an only son in the family and one of his parents has to support him, there is no need to conscript him.

Therefore, from the original 120,000 young and middle-aged men, only more than 50,000 young and middle-aged men were recruited to the battlefield.

There was uneasiness in the eyes of these 50,000 young men. They were suddenly called to the battlefield, which really made them a little panicked.

Although some of them have no experience on the battlefield - when wars between the two empires broke out ten years ago, the border kingdoms, principalities and two provinces often recruited young men to fight on the battlefield.

More than half of the people in the Principality of Hull have been withdrawn, leaving only 50,000 young men among the last 700,000 people who have been reasonably recruited as temporary recruits.

Lu Yuan also personally recruited these 50,000 young men as recruits in a fair and impartial manner, trying not to let these 50,000 young men without too much resentment.

But at this time, being gentle was not an option, so he directly killed a few guys who met the requirements but were unwilling to accept the conscription on the spot. This established his authority and made them feel more settled.

It is now the twenty-first day of defending the city...

There are still nine days left before the scheduled one month to hold Zhennanguan.

The Star Luo Empire rested for a few days and sacrificed the lives of several scouts and Xizuo before they learned that the Star Luo Empire had begun to recruit a large number of people from nearby kingdoms to serve as civilians to supply the army. As for the original civilians, they recruited an army of 500,000 people and ordered them to As the vanguard, prepare to start a continuous siege war.

In addition to the original army of 500,000, the Star Luo Empire once again raised an army of one million this time...

Lu Yuan knew that the Xingluo Empire was planning to complete its efforts, but it was different from before when the entire army was deployed.

The Star Luo Empire plans to fight a protracted war, and Lu Yuan and others must be prepared to face the Star Luo Empire's siege for several days.

In the previous three battles, Zhennanguan lost 60,000 troops, and another 20,000 troops were seriously injured, and they were no longer able to fight.

There were only 120,000 troops left to fight out of the 200,000 troops, so it was necessary to recruit young men from the Principality of Hel as soldiers, but even so, only 50,000 troops were recruited.

This 50,000-strong army still had little combat experience. Not to mention the elite troops of the opposite Star Luo Empire, they were far inferior to the original defenders of Zhennanguan.

Their combat strength is equivalent to an army of 20,000 at most.

That is to say, what seems to be 170,000 troops is actually only equivalent to an army of 140,000. Next, we have to resist the continuous siege of a million troops on the opposite side...

The Star Luo Empire's plan is obviously to continuously attack the city, with millions of troops taking turns to attack the city, even if Zhennan Pass can be defended on the first day.

But what about the next day and the third day?

The 140,000 troops at Zhennanguan are not made of steel. Facing the opponent's continuous attacks, they will inevitably become exhausted.

When soldiers are tired, their combat effectiveness and will to fight will decrease.

When the time comes, it won't be easy for the Star Luo Empire to break through Zhennang Pass again?

But... no matter what happens, Zhennanguan must be defended.

This is not something that can be done, but something that must be done.

Even if all the 170,000 troops die here, we must hold on.

Even if this war cannot be won at all, we must hold on until the last moment when the city is broken!

This is the responsibility that a soldier and a general must adhere to. If you are born here, you can only die to serve the country!

"It's too late to train them now, so we can only let them go directly to the front line." Marquis Senluo looked at the 50,000 recruits and said.

"That's all it can do." Lu Yuan's face was cold.

They all know very well that if these untrained recruits go to the battlefield, not many will survive.

But it is a necessary sacrifice.

On the battlefield, all individual feelings must be placed under the victory of the war. Everything must be centered on the victory of the war and make way for victory.

Lu Yuan and Marquis Senluo were both willing to let the 50,000 recruits die as long as they could make the Star Luo Empire withdraw their troops, let alone let them all die.

And just then...

"Report——!" One of Senluohou's soldiers ran quickly from a distance.

He is a member of Senluohou's tribe and a soul master. He has the cultivation level of a soul king, so he quickly came to Senluohou and Lu Yuan.

He knelt down on one knee, raised his hands and said, "Grand Duke Tianying, General! The Star Luo Empire army has begun to take action. It is estimated that there are 300,000 troops marching towards us quickly!"

"Here we come!" Senluo Hou took a deep breath, and then said to the Senluo Army soldiers around him, "Go up the city wall! Get ready to fight!"

Lu Yuan nodded, turned around and shouted to the 50,000-strong army, "The whole army is ready to fight!"

"I know that many of you are new recruits, but at this time, you have to think about your families and tribesmen behind you!" he said.

These 50,000 troops were recruited from the people of the Principality of Hel who are still there, and according to Lu Yuan's recruitment standards, their family members were still in the Principality of Hel at this time.

"Zhennang Pass has been breached. Your family and tribe will be captured by the Star Luo Empire's army before they can evacuate!" Lu Yuan continued, "So going into battle to kill the enemy is not only for the empire, but also for yours." Family and tribe!”

"Your parents, your brothers and sisters, your wives and even your children are all behind you and protected by you!"

Hearing what Lu Yuan said, the eyes of these 50,000 young men suddenly turned from uneasy to firm. Family Man will always be the strongest among the superheroes.

"If you fail, the blades of the Star Luo Empire will slash at them!" Lu Yuan said with sharp eyes, "So! Protect the ones you love with all your strength!"

"For the empire! For the family!" he said angrily.

Suddenly, these 50,000 young men roared, "For the empire! For the family!"

"For the empire! For the family!"

"For the empire! For the family!"

"The people's support can be used." Seeing this, Senluo Hou nodded.

…

Lu Yuan, Ning Rongrong and Senluo Hou led the new soldiers and Senluo Army to Zhennanguan. The original Zhennanguan guard had been killed by several generals of the Star Luo Empire yesterday.

His cultivation level was not high, so he was besieged and killed by several Soul Emperor generals from the Star Luo Empire. The battle situation was too chaotic at that time, and the city walls were all filled with soldiers from the Star Luo Empire army. Lu Yuan did not see him being besieged at all.

It was only after the post-war statistics were collected that his remains were discovered.

Lu Yuan sighed. Although the Zhennan Pass guard general was not very advanced, he was not very good at strategy.

But he died in order to hold on to Zhennang Pass after all. However, if the general died on the battlefield, the Tiandou Empire would definitely provide him with compensation and rewards.

After this battle, if the Tiandou Empire did not remember the merits of the Zhennan Pass guard, Lu Yuan would definitely go to him personally to ask for his title.

He couldn't bear to see the hero who died in battle being wronged.

Of course, this is another story.

Lu Yuan and Ning Rongrong looked outside Zhennan Pass and saw yellow sand rising in the distance, and millions of troops marching in order.

The other party re-mobilized an army of 500,000 people and stood directly at the front.

They were covered with a layer of thin armor made by the Star Luo Empire. The layers of armor were like leaves, but they seemed to have no defense and could be broken with a single cut.

The real defensive power is the leather armor under this thin layer of armor, but this kind of leather armor can only withstand arrows at best. When faced with attacks from broadswords and spears, it can still be broken in one blow.

After all, they are just a temporary army, and they deserve the worst treatment. After all, in the eyes of the Star Luo Empire, these 500,000 troops are just consumables.

Their role is to attack the city at the beginning of the war and consume the morale and physical strength of the Zhennanguan defenders.

However, if any of them can survive this siege, or even make great achievements, the Star Luo Empire will not be stingy in rewarding them.

Therefore, even if these 500,000 troops are used as consumables, they are full of fighting spirit.

The ambition to make contributions burns in their hearts. As long as they can make contributions and survive, they will gain glory and wealth!

So of course they are not afraid!

Behind this army of 500,000 civilians is the surviving 500,000 elite army of the Star Luo Empire. They are far more elite than the army of civilians in front, and their light armor, heavy armor or weapons are also more powerful.

It's just that they didn't immediately attack the front line. Instead, they stopped in place like tigers, quietly staring at the Zhennang Pass in front of them, as if waiting for the prey to show its weakness, and then pounce on the prey!

Deathblade General Wang Qianren stood at the front line. The continuous siege was a conspiracy. He knew that with the wisdom of Marquis Yisenluo and Lu Yuan, it was impossible not to guess what they were going to do next.

So he stood directly on the front line, preparing to command the battle.

After the army, the baggage troops pushed up the siege vehicles and siege ladders one after another.

The baggage troops have been continuously preparing siege equipment in the past few days, ensuring that there are enough siege equipment for use in the past few days.

It's almost time to meet.

"Frontline troops! Move forward and attack!"

Deathblade General Wang Qianren gave an order, and saw the Star Luo Empire's half-million-strong army immediately pushing countless siege equipment and rushing towards Zhennang Pass!

"Stop them from attacking the city!" Lu Yuan said coldly.

Immediately, the Zhennanguan garrison directly began to use long-range attack methods such as bows and arrows, machine-crossbows, and trebuchets to try to suppress the siege of the Star Luo Empire army.

However, the frontline army of the Star Luo Empire showed no fear at all. They rushed directly to the city wall of Zhennanguan with the flying objects flying above their heads.

They suffered countless casualties in an instant, but they still rushed forward without fear of death. At the same time, they also tried to use siege wood to break through the black iron city gate under Zhennan Pass that Lu Yuan used to control the source number. .

The Star Luo Empire's army was too numerous, and arrows, crossbows, and trebuchets could not do much, so the Zhennanguan defenders began to pour boiling water, gold juice, rolling logs, and spears into the city. They fought with the Star Luo Empire soldiers holding siege vehicles and siege ladders.

But even in this situation, some people from the Star Luo Empire army rushed to the city wall, and Lu Yuan and other Zhennanguan defenders started fighting directly.

The enemy did not send out senior generals to challenge Lu Yuan, Ning Rongrong, Sen Luohou and others.

There were only ordinary soldiers in the army who rushed up and were quickly killed by Lu Yuan, Ning Rongrong and Sen Luohou.

Lu Yuan and others also destroyed many of the Star Luo Empire's siege equipment, but the Star Luo Empire quickly brought in new siege vehicles and siege ladders, and placed them at Zhennan Pass for soldiers to climb up.

and……

Half an hour later, the arrows, crossbows and stones were all used up.

After two hours, even the rolling wood, golden juice and boiling water were consumed.

The defenders could only use their spears to stab to death the Star Luo Empire soldiers who tried to follow the siege vehicles and siege ladders.

But the Star Luo Empire's army of 500,000 people was too many. People kept coming up from the Star Luo Empire's army. With the help of Ning Rongrong, Lu Yuan killed them all, and then new enemies kept coming.

The Star Luo Empire didn't seem to be in a hurry. Instead of all the 500,000 troops coming up to the city wall like the previous siege, they kept a constant frequency of enemies coming up.

Lu Yuan just wanted to launch a large-scale killing soul skill in an instant. Once he saw that the opponent's army was completely scattered, he had no way to take action.

The Star Luo Empire also guarded against him, so even if he spent a lot of soul power to activate Xinghuang Shatter, he would only kill an army of 10,000 to 20,000 people at most.

This is obviously not worth the gain.

After nearly five hours of continuous siege, the Star Luo Empire withdrew its troops, leaving behind the corpses of 70,000 to 80,000 troops.

But the very next day...

The Star Luo Empire's million-strong army attacked again, and it was the same story again. They attacked the city for six consecutive hours, leaving tens of thousands of soldier corpses behind, and then withdrew the army back to Yubei Pass.

Then comes the third day...

The fourth day...

Although Zhennan Pass successfully defended the city, every day the Star Luo Empire left tens of thousands of dead soldiers behind and then withdrew its troops.

In total, the Star Luo Empire lost more than 200,000 troops in the past four days, while Zhennanguan only lost 40,000 troops in the past four days.

It looks like he’s making a lot of money, but...

Ning Rongrong looked at the soldiers guarding the city with low morale and dull eyes on the city wall, and bit her lip.

They had been guarding the city for four consecutive days. During these four days, they had taken turns to rest even at night. In addition, four consecutive days of high-intensity defense and fighting had made them physically and mentally exhausted to the extreme.

In fact, it was not just them, Lu Yuan and Sen Luohou did not go down the city wall in the past four days in order to show their determination.

And just then...

"The enemy - attacks -!" The high voice once again broke the tranquility above Zhennan Pass!