Chapter 459: Mobilizing Explosives

6976.2.27, after intense discussion, the War Council still decided to contact His Majesty Sinuoli, requesting he return first to preside over the overall situation; only now have I had the time to review the combat situation.

There are multiple Rune Masters in the camp, and theoretically, there is no need to worry about enemy spellcasters, but the night before last, the rats relied on some unknown means to summon a black mist that was difficult to disperse, using it to launch a sneak attack.

Their primary target was undoubtedly the Artillery, and they also made the army's command headquarters their secondary target, attempting to prevent or delay our support for the artillery positions.

King Kazador was in charge of the central command tent; His Majesty Sinuoli handed over command to him before leaving, and the beard on his chest and the Warhammer inherited from the era of the Ancestor Gods in his palm made him well-deserving of the role.

After the attack, he blew the Thunder Horn in time, using the power of that supreme treasure to warn the army. The rats that infiltrated were limited in number after all, and he unleashed the great power he used to slay a Dragon back in the day to kill and repel them, subsequently leading the "Iron Guard" to directly support the artillery.

After hearing the horn, I decided to lead the warriors of Haojiaobao and the whelps assigned to me to defend the army's granary, but perhaps fearing that incendiaries would expose them in the darkness, there were only sporadic fellows attempting to pillage here.

Not every young commander has the ability to assemble troops under the interference of the rats, stabilize the situation in their own camp, and then provide targeted support to the directions most in need; therefore, King Kazador did not have many forces available during the battle at the artillery positions.

The enemies attacking the artillery positions came from outside the camp; the leading rat was said to be wearing a suit of eerie iron armor, driving a contraption two or three times larger than a rolling blade ball to destroy the temporarily constructed walls.

That kind of rotating blade combined with spinning knives, spikes, and cutting edges, pushed forward by suicidal madmen, was already difficult enough to deal with. This newly appeared fellow was faster, comparable to a galloping steed, and could intermittently spray evil green lightning.

Vice President Buluokesen was severely injured in the first wave of the attack; had it not been for the divine protection of the god Mogelimu within the Focusing Lens, he likely would have met with misfortune, which is also an important reason why we decided to summon His Majesty Sinuoli back.

The Iron Guard are the rat-killing experts of Karak-Azul; they are famous for their bold actions in the Battle of the Deep Well, where they routed a pack of rats and tracked them to find their Clan's nest, subsequently using Cinder Detonator to destroy the entire Clan.

With their support, King Kazador risked injury to forcibly destroy the power core of that giant wheel. Some clansmen pointed out that the rat driving it should be the technical director of Clan Skryre, the notorious Ikit Claw; fortunately, with the Doom Anvil restricting it, it could not release destructive spells and chose to retreat after the giant wheel broke down.

Up to this point, the battle situation was far from clear. A massive number of Clan Mors black-furred rats poured in through the breach Ikit Claw had broken open. Eltharion arrived with his Griffin Knights, and only after flapping their wings to blow away part of the black mist to create firing conditions for the artillery was the situation stabilized.

Before departing, His Majesty Sinuoli said to contact him if there were situations difficult to handle. Now, no one can guarantee whether the rats or Greenskins will attack again; King Kazador is injured, and others, including myself, lack something when it comes to presiding over the overall situation; it is just a pity that in two or three days, he probably hasn't even started exploring.

6976.2.28, after receiving the telegram, His Majesty Sinuoli had the pointy-ears drive a Griffin to pick him up and bring him back, after which he bestowed grace on behalf of the Mother Goddess to heal the wounded, which also boosted the slightly low morale of the clansmen.

The aberrant monsters participating in the night raid were clearly not common types but had undergone additional flesh-warping; this is not within the capabilities of Clan Mors, and our Norsca brethren are certain they received support from Hell Pit.

Added to the likely existence of grey-furred rats, even if they haven't appeared yet, the four so-called Great Clans of the Skaven are all present. His Majesty Sinuoli suspects that it was their Horned God who stepped in to facilitate all of this; to avoid bringing about negative effects, the War Council decided to seal this information from the outside.

6876.3.1, the army launched a main offensive underground, and almost all the Ironbreaker units fought their way into the Earth Vein Network. We cleared the path as we advanced, and small-sized Organ Gun were sufficient to destroy the outer defensive facilities.

6876.3.7, within a week, we recaptured more than ten caves or halls, but compared to the vast underground portion of Eight Peaks, it was merely a drop in the bucket. A simple estimate suggests that at this pace, it would take a year or two to reach the core area.

The spirit of King Luen knows this best; from the time the Miner first accidentally discovered the rat-men's underground tunnels to the fall of Eight Peaks, the ancestors resisted for a total of 188 years. But let alone 18 years, can the coalition maintain this for 1.8 years?

Those cowardly rats dare not bring out their troops for a decisive battle with us, and for the time being, we have no good way to drive them out. As for a siege, with this riddled Earth Vein Network, even ten times the manpower wouldn't be enough to block it!

6876.3.10, His Majesty Sinuoli seems to have had an idea; he assembled a group of technical personnel such as Stonemason, designers, and Engineer to survey from the air, the ground, and underground.

6876.3.15, urgently mobilized the entire inventory of explosives from the Southlands.

6876.3.18, we are constantly capturing live prisoners for interrogation, then gradually determining locations based on the information obtained. Although the power organs of Clan Mors can move, important building complexes such as warpstone reactors, breeding pits, and foul-grain swamps are fixed.

The more important the building, whether for breeding, storage, training, or production, the deeper underground it seems to be placed; considering their constant fighting with the Evil Moon Tribe on the upper levels, this is reasonable.

6876.3.23, His Majesty Sinuoli marked several points on his exclusive underground map of Eight Peaks and secretly assigned tasks to each unit. He required us to swear in the name of the Ancestor Gods that no one would communicate with each other.

Combining the knowledge of fortress design I learned when I was young, I might have guessed what he is going to do; this is something predecessors never thought of, and extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures.

6876.3.28, the first batch of explosives has crossed the Dushuihe; they were disguised as grain or beer for transport. Besides the explosives, His Majesty Sinuoli also often paces at the camp gate, seemingly waiting for something else.

6876.4.2, explosives are in storage, just waiting for the follow-up shipments. During this time, the various units are still taking constant action, some of which may serve as feints.

6876.4.5, the second batch of explosives has also arrived; His Majesty Sinuoli held a meeting, requesting the clearing of the Guowang Dadao and preparations for an offensive toward the surface portion. After the meeting, he handed the massive amount of explosives brought in to Belegar Ironhammer and Prince Gelagelimu for secret use.

6876.4.8, Belegar and Gelagelimu returned to camp to report; in these few days, the heavy atmosphere in the camp has made every clansman realize that something major is about to happen.