In the night, it was as silent as a giant beast. The smoke it exhaled during the day had condensed into thick clouds in the sudden drop in temperature. Even the mining lamp with the highest power could not illuminate a single human trace. One could only see the wild and rough lines of the buildings in the darkness. The outlines were even more hideous than what they saw in the daytime.

The Mineral Town of Lostra, this is its name. This small town composed of miners, blacksmiths and billowing smoke is located in the northwest of the Evernight Forest. The narrow valley terrain that looks like erosion makes its location look extremely steep, but it is not formed naturally. Many years ago, a traveler passed by this nameless village and accidentally picked up a piece of natural iron ore nearby. Later, after exploration, people dug out a vein in an area less than one kilometer away from the village, which even contained quite precious mountain copper – the Western Continent called it Orichalcum, a material commonly used in potions, alchemy and magic rituals, and it is said that it can also be used to manufacture the war machine called “Constructor”.

According to the laws of the kingdom, all natural assets in the noble territory belonged to the lord. At that time, the Count of Gray Hill took over the mine and recruited a large number of people to settle here. The miners dug down day and night. During the craziest period, the mining lamps never went out for 24 hours a day, and the clanging of mattocks was heard one after another, almost making people think that there was a terrifying beast buried deep underground. This beast devoured rocks and spit out raw ore, eventually causing the original flat land to sink into a steep valley. Lostra Town also expanded underground and was called “the town that fell into the abyss”, just like Suare City used to be called “the town on the edge of ashes”.

However, Lostra did not grow and develop like Suare, and eventually became a city. This was due to its geographical location and the upper limit of its population capacity. Later, the Count of Gray Hill decided to build a new city in an area 100 kilometers away from the Mineral Town. He moved away most of the manpower, machines and facilities, leaving only a small number of officials and all the miners who maintained the basic operation of the town. The Mineral Town fell into decline, while the new city flourished. It continued to devour the raw materials from the Mineral Town, and in the blazing flames of the blast furnace and the billowing black smoke, it produced a large number of weapons, armor, weapons, and most importantly, wealth for the Count of Gray Hill. In the end, it even became the most important city in the entire Ansers region except the Gray Hill City of Suare, namely the “Iron City of Bad Ain”.

Even now, this status has not changed. After the outbreak of the colonial war and the fall of the Gray Hill region, the Axis powers took over the iron forging city of Bad Ain and the ore town of Lostra. They brought war and damage, but also brought more scientific management methods, more developed smelting technology and more advanced machinery and equipment, which made the steel production that had long been stagnant and backward complete a leap forward. The forged steel will eventually become the gun shells of magic rifles, cannon shells, chariot armor, and even the frames and suspension cabins of airships. Except for the most basic magic components that can only be transported and supplemented from the Western Continent, it almost meets all the needs of the 17th Legion for steel products and supports its rule in the Gray Hill region.

If their occupation of Sumya City was more of a political significance, then Bad Ain City and Lostra Town were truly strategically valuable areas. In order to ensure the safety of this logistics base, the 17th Legion invested a lot of manpower and material resources here. Its garrison was so tight that even sentry posts responsible for vigilance and surveillance were spread all over the valley, so that Gray Hill Eagle could only stand on the high ground several kilometers away, under the cover of night, and look at this town from afar that he had only heard of but never set foot on.

“As early as half a year ago, Lostra Town implemented a martial law order from the Legion, strictly prohibiting people except supply convoys from approaching this area, and the miners living in the town are not allowed to go out at will. Therefore, our people cannot infiltrate and gather intelligence. The Miners’ Brotherhood, a resistance organization that has been active in this area for a long time, is relatively xenophobic. At present, they have only agreed to contact us and have not expressed their intention to cooperate. Therefore, we have no way to ask them for intelligence. Fortunately, our new ally has provided some more detailed information, which fills the gap in this regard for us.”

Next to Grayhill Eagle, Regina was holding a booklet in her hand and reporting the situation to him in a low voice. The new allies the girl mentioned were naturally the mysterious visitors from Cloud Whale Sky Island. Although they had never participated in the battles of the Liberation Front, the intelligence they provided was absolutely crucial. It can even be said that without their assistance, the Liberation Front would never have been able to grow to its current level, and could even consider launching an attack on the important strategic areas of the 17th Legion.

“Combining the intelligence provided by this ally with the actual situation, the most conservative estimate is that the 17th Legion has stationed at least three infantry squadrons, an artillery column, a tank column, and a mecha column in the mineral town of Lostra. In addition, they have built fortresses on the commanding heights on both sides of the valley entrance, where they have set up several burst-type magic machine guns, which are enough to completely block the attack routes from the front and sides.”

After Regina finished speaking, the surroundings fell into deathly silence. The soldiers who came with Carson Borg to investigate the situation either frowned or were shocked and hesitant. Before they came, they had already imagined that this battle would be extremely difficult, but they didn’t expect it to be this difficult.

The Axis Powers were a coalition of Western countries that were eligible to participate in the colonial war. Although they had many conflicts due to historical factors and conflicts of interest, they were still able to maintain their combat effectiveness under the coordination of the united church. In view of the different military systems of various countries, forcibly following them would only lead to confusion in command, so they developed a military system that was only applicable to the coalition forces. In this military system, an infantry squadron was 500 people, four infantry squadrons formed a battalion, and four battalions formed a corps. In addition to the special formations such as the engineering corps, artillery formations, tank formations, and mechanized formations, they constituted the entire military force of the 17th Corps in the Ansers region.

Through the intelligence provided by an ally, it can be roughly inferred that this force is about 15,000. Although the airship troops have been withdrawn, the force has been slightly weakened, but it is still a powerful force. The 15,000 troops are scattered in major cities and major defense areas centered on Suare City. The defense forces are strong and weak. Mineral Town is undoubtedly the key defense area. The troops stationed here account for one-seventh of the total force of the 17th Legion, not to mention the iron forging city of Bad Ain, which is even higher than it.

Even though the war outside was in full swing, the troops stationed in the valley and the town showed no signs of moving, as if they wanted to defend the town until the end of time.

On the bright side, this proved that the action against Mineral Town could effectively hit the enemy where it hurts. The original supply route was being cut off. If even this important logistics base was lost, the commander of the 17th Army would probably be restless. But on the negative side, it also meant that they would encounter great resistance, so great that the newly born Liberators Front could not bear it.

Carson Borg’s gaze lingered on the gray town for a long time, until a long cry of a night owl came from the distant forest. He slowly turned his head and asked the warriors who followed him: “Do you have any ideas?”

He hoped to hear some suggestions from them. Even if they might not be useful, it would prove that they had indeed thought about it. As long as people think, they will make progress. In the recent frequent operations, Carson Borg has clearly felt the shortcomings of the Liberators Front, that is, there are not enough officers to support an effective command system. In most cases, the formulation of tactics can only rely on him and a few people with strategic thinking. In contrast, their enemies have done very well in this regard. Their officers have received formal military training. Even if their abilities are poor, as long as they know the most basic allocation of troops and formations, it is enough to cause them great trouble.

Grayhill Eagle had seen more than once that when the enemy was attacked and the people were in chaos, those officers were still able to organize an effective counterattack, as if how to deal with various emergencies on the battlefield had become an instinct engraved in their bones. Often, before the brain came back to its senses, the mouth, hands and feet had already started to move. This was the power of military education. Although they could gain a temporary advantage, it was entirely based on intelligence advantages and personal bravery. The question was, could this advantage be relied on for a lifetime? The scale of the war was getting more and more intense, and everyone had to keep learning on the battlefield in order to survive. Grayhill Eagle had no time to train his soldiers, and he couldn’t find anyone to train them. Therefore, he could only guide them in this way. As long as he trained a qualified officer, a hundred qualified soldiers could be saved from dying on the battlefield.

These warriors, who he had high hopes for, looked at each other for a while, and finally someone hesitantly put forward his own idea: “How about a sneak attack? The terrain near the mining town is complex, with both valleys and dense forests. If we use the cover of night, perhaps we can launch an attack before the enemy reacts?”

“What kind of bullshit idea is this?” Someone shouted in dissatisfaction: “Didn’t you hear what Regina just said? This valley is full of enemy surveillance posts. In my opinion, if we want to attack, we have to clear out these posts first.” “Clear out? It’s easy for you to say that. They are not dead. Don’t they know how to ask for help and warn?”

“Or, like before, cut off the enemy’s supply routes and force them to come out and fight?”

“No, that would only alert the enemy. And you don’t know how much food they have stored in the warehouse. If the reserve is sufficient, wouldn’t we alert the enemy?”

“I think that cutting off the supply route is not feasible, but the idea of ​​forcing them to take the initiative to fight is correct. If we show a posture of attacking Bad Ain City, will the defenders choose to return for support?”

“Ha, could it be that your brain was damaged by the magic guns of those Westerners (a derogatory term)? If we were to attack Bad Ain City with such a small number of people, I would definitely not even look at you if I were the enemy’s commander!”

“You’re not crazy, why don’t you think of a way? Stop making sarcastic remarks.”

Seeing that the situation was about to turn into a quarrel, Carson Borg stopped them with a headache: “Okay, okay, stop talking, calm down first, don’t forget that we are still in enemy territory.”

The majesty of the Grayhill Eagle needs no further explanation. Those who had just been clamoring to go out and fight to prove their strength shut up and breathed a sigh of relief. They were bold and brave warriors on the battlefield, but they were not good at thinking. Carson Borg knew that it was not their fault. After all, before becoming resistance fighters, they were adventurers, mercenaries, hunters, and even farmers. At most, they could only deal with the ash creatures in the Black Forest or the beasts in the forest. It would take time to train them into qualified officers.

There are people who have received orthodox education and have strategic minds, such as Grayhill Eagle’s former colleagues, those who were once members of the original Night Church. They are either priests or clerks of the church, or knights of the church and mercenaries of the church. They follow Grayhill Eagle because they admire him and are the backbone of the Ash Guerrilla. However, these people have been sent out by Carson Borg and are currently serving as liaison officers and tactical advisors in other resistance organizations. They are responsible for giving appropriate suggestions to those leaders at the right time. This responsibility is more important and cannot be easily recalled.

There is no need to rush, just take it slow and give them more time to grow… although maybe there is no such time anymore.

The Grayhill Eagle’s eyes swept across the faces of the warriors one by one, and finally fixed on the red-haired girl who had remained silent. He suddenly said, “Regina, do you have any ideas?”

He paused for a moment and continued, “After all, Lostra, the mineral town, is your hometown. If you know anything that can help this operation, don’t hesitate to speak up.”

The mineral town of Lostra is Regina’s hometown?

The warriors were all shocked, as this was the first time they had heard of this. When they joined the Ash Rangers, the red-haired girl had already been the right-hand man of the Ashhill Eagle, so they had always thought that Regina was also from Suare. But then they thought about it again, and realized that her bold and uninhibited temperament and her tenacious character were indeed very much like the miners in Mineral Town—coming out of the rocks, so hard that even a pickaxe couldn’t break through them.

The red-haired girl pursed her lips slightly.

When he spoke, his voice was a little dry: “I do… have an idea.” (End of this chapter)