Chapter 285: The Battle for Time
Across the wide-open plains, dense ranks of troops assembled in an orderly fashion.
High above, a group of Wizards surveyed the scene below, occasionally exchanging hushed words.
Sheman Cole, Artier, Ethan, Tagana, and Fleming were all present. Aside from Scepter, Rose, and Fakado, who had gone to attend a Council Hall meeting, the core Level One Wizards with the highest status in the Star Alliance were nearly all gathered.
“I heard we’re planning to attack three planes simultaneously this time. Isn’t that a bit too ambitious?” one of them remarked.
“While we’re attacking at the same time, there’s actually a primary and secondary focus. Our main target is Ulan Plane. The other two planes only need to hold back the troops of Black Suo Tower to prevent them from repositioning,” Artier explained.
“Speaking of which, what kind of plane is Ulan Plane?” Tagana asked, curiosity evident on his face.
Everyone turned their gaze toward Artier.
Though Artier had concentrated most of his energy on cultivation after reshaping his body, he still participated in government affairs.
If anyone among them had the most informed intelligence, it would undoubtedly be Artier, who had once served as an assistant to Lize.
Tagana leaned in. “Give us a sneak peek.”
“Yes, let us understand a bit beforehand,” Fleming added.
Not wanting to refuse, Artier continued, “The situation in Ulan Plane is actually quite similar to that of the Starlight Continent. It’s primarily inhabited by humans and has a unified government. The country currently controlling the entire plane is called the North Empire, which serves as the proxy ruling power of Black Suo Tower in Ulan Plane.”
Understanding washed over everyone's faces.
To maximize the efficiency of resource development and collection, the Wizard Faction typically supported a unified regime in planes governed by existing civilizations, allowing them to act as proxies of governing power.
Just like the Prosperous Star Empire on the Starlight Continent.
“Given Black Suo Tower's usual approach, the living conditions for citizens of the North Empire probably aren’t very good,” Sheman observed thoughtfully.
Artier nodded and said, "Indeed, Black Suo Tower exploits the North Empire to the extreme, and this exploitation is then passed down by the Royal Family and nobles of the North Empire to the common people, whose living conditions can only be described as dire."
Fleming chuckled, "It seems our attack on Ulan Plane will actually be a good deed then."
The others shook their heads and smiled wryly.
Tagana asked, "What about the military strength of Ulan Plane?"
Artier pondered, "We haven't been able to scout the specifics. According to the information we have so far, Ulan Plane has at least fifteen Wizard Towers and over thirty Black Sota Dreadnoughts stationed there year-round."
"That many?" Sheman frowned deeply.
The others also lost their smiles, their expressions turning serious.
Just one Plane has such a strong garrison; no wonder the Wisdom Codex wanted Star Alliance and Thousand Headed Bird to join forces against Black Suo Tower.
Considering that Star Alliance also needs to send some forces to invade West Ge Plane and Man Luo Plane, the number of War Creation that can actually be deployed to attack Ulan Plane is probably less than what Ulan Plane has.
Even if the Star Alliance has a Flying Fleet to make up the difference, it still wouldn't have the advantage.
"What about Puppet troops?" Coley asked in a low voice.
"The exact number is unknown," Artier replied, shaking his head. "I only know that Ulan Plane has a Fire Scale Knight Legion stationed there, which is similar to our Magic Knight Order. All its members possess legendary combat power, and their number shouldn't be less than thirty thousand."
Sheman pondered, "That shouldn't be hard to deal with. The current official members of the Magic Knight Order have surpassed one hundred thousand. Since we've decided to primarily attack Ulan Plane, we will surely send no less than fifty thousand troops. Dealing with the Fire Scale Knight Legion will not be an issue."
"Puppets are the same," Ethan said. "Ulan Plane's Puppet troops can't exceed two Army Corps at most. In this regard, we still have the advantage."
The others nodded in agreement.
Although Black Suo Tower is a top Second Rate Wizard Force, it is impossible for it to station a large number of Puppets across twenty-two Planes at the same time.
For a single Plane, having two million Puppets would already be quite impressive.
Currently, the Star Alliance boasts a total of five Army Corps. The forces deployed to attack Ulan Plane will comprise no less than two Army Corps, amounting to two million Puppets.
On the Wizard side, although the Star Alliance’s numbers are fewer, the presence of the Witch Hunter Legion compensates for this disparity effectively.
In terms of Wizard-level combat power alone, the Star Alliance is likely on par with the combined forces of Wulan, Manro, and Xige.
Overall, in terms of basic and high-end combat capabilities, even if the Star Alliance lacks a significant advantage against the three planes, it also isn't at a disadvantage.
The only challenge lies with War Creation.
War Creation is extremely costly and requires a lengthy period to construct. The War Creation facilities, including the Wizard Towers, have been accumulated painstakingly over tens of thousands of years.
In contrast, the Star Alliance has only risen over the past two thousand years and still lacks in this area.
Noticing the solemn expressions on everyone’s faces, Sheman tried to lighten the atmosphere. Smiling, he said, “But this is a good opportunity. If we can seize a few more Wizard Towers, we can significantly enhance the Star Alliance’s War Creation capabilities.”
Upon hearing his words, many Wizards’ eyes brightened.
Currently, the Star Alliance possesses only twenty-one Wizard Towers while having over four hundred Wizards. The resources available are far too limited for the number of people, leaving many Wizards unable to claim their own Wizard Tower.
Should they manage to capture more Wizard Towers during this war, they might get the chance to exchange for one.
How could that not be enticing?
“With Master Su Nan’s leadership, this war is bound to be a great victory!” Tagana exclaimed.
Everyone nodded in agreement.
After the blockade of the Plane was lifted, they encountered an increasing amount of information from the outside world. The more they learned, the more they appreciated how remarkable it was for the Star Alliance to develop to its current scale in just over a thousand years, starting from nothing!
And all of this was achieved under Su Nan’s guidance.
The members of the Star Alliance now place unwavering trust in Su Nan.
As long as an order came from Su Nan, no matter how extraordinary it seemed, they would do their utmost to carry it out.
This time was no exception!
“This is the military force stationed at Ulan Plane."
Council Hall of Li Away
Lize presented the documents to the Second Level Wizard in attendance. After they had all read the materials, he spoke in a solemn tone.
"Due to the urgency of the situation, the intelligence we collected is limited. Most of the information about Ulan Plane comes from the Wisdom Codex, but even that is sparse. We can only provide a rough estimate."
The garrison strength of a subordinate plane is undoubtedly a core secret for any Wizard Faction. Even with long-term infiltration of spies into the plane, it's challenging to ascertain the full deployment of forces.
The Wizards present understood this and remained silent, instead looking up at Su Nan, who sat at the head of the table.
Su Nan surveyed the group, lightly tapping the armrest of his chair a few times. After a moment of contemplation, he said:
"Then let's proceed according to the original plan. Ulan Plane will be our main target, while we will use the other two planes as diversions."
"Scepter, you will lead the Second Army Corps, the Third Magic Pattern Knights, and the Fourth Legion of the Golem Legion to attack Man Luo Plane. I will also provide you with three Small Wizard Towers, one Medium Wizard Tower, three Flying Fleets, and fifteen Star Fortresses."
The Magic Knight Order is currently divided into ten legions, each consisting of ten thousand official members and ninety thousand reserve members.
Even though their role is to serve as a diversion, the scale of the invading army cannot be too small; otherwise, they risk being overwhelmed by the enemy, which would jeopardize our support for Ulan Plane—an unthinkable outcome.
Su Nan must ensure that the military forces attacking Man Luo and West Ge are sufficient to suppress the enemy and prevent their escape.
"Yes, sir!" Scepter responded respectfully.
"The army attacking West Ge Plane will be led by Fakado. You will command the Third Army Corps, the Fifth Magic Pattern Knights, and the Sixth Legion of the Golem Legion. I will provide you with the same war resources."
"Yes, sir!" Fakado replied respectfully.
Scepter and Fakado are the most senior and powerful Wizards of the Star Alliance. With them leading the assaults on Man Luo Plane and West Ge Plane respectively, everyone felt reassured.
"Regarding the Wizard-level combat strength, each of you will draw one-fifth of your Wizard and Wizard Level Puppet. The logistics material list is included in the document I just provided. You have five days to prepare for war as soon as possible."
"Remember, your job is merely to contain them. You don't need to achieve any major victories. While preserving your own strength, you must prevent the enemy from supporting other planes."
Scepter and Fakado responded in unison.
After giving a few more specific instructions, the meeting concluded. The Wizards hurriedly departed to make their preparations.
The Council Hall quickly emptied, leaving only Su Nan and Lize.
"Have you been researching the Elemental Furnace lately?" Lize asked.
"Yes," Su Nan replied, nodding, having nothing to hide from Lize.
"If the Starlight Wizard Tower is to be upgraded and modified further, there must be a breakthrough in energy supply. The current Elemental Pool has reached the limits of the Wizard Tower's capacity and cannot be enhanced any further. I can only focus on efficiency and see if I can create a simplified version of the Elemental Furnace."
Upon hearing this, a flicker of emotion passed through Lize's eyes.
Upgrading and modifying Wizard Towers was not uncommon in the Wizarding World.
For instance, the True Spirit Descendants of major Wizard Factions, when lacking the ability to construct higher-level Floating Cities, would choose to modify their existing Large Wizard Towers.
However, due to their abilities and resources, most could only alter one or two aspects at most.
Either the Tower Spirit or the Elemental Pool.
Or the Mystic Lock Defense Energy Field or long-range firepower.
Or a built-in Puppet Legion.
This was the first time she had encountered a case like Su Nan's, where everything was being upgraded.
The current Starlight Wizard Tower had already far surpassed a Large Wizard Tower, and it wouldn't be out of place to classify it as an even higher level, such as ultra-large.
Even so, Su Nan was still not satisfied, planning further modifications and preparing to install a simplified version of the Elemental Furnace!
The Elemental Furnace, the energy supply device for a Floating City!
Even if it were just a simplified version, its energy storage, output, and recovery rate would undoubtedly far exceed that of the Elemental Pool!
Lize couldn't help but wonder; if Su Nan's plan truly succeeded, how much would Starlight Wizard Tower's combat power be enhanced? Perhaps that was the foundation of Su Nan's confidence in conquering the Ulan Plane! Thinking of Su Nan's past glorious achievements, Lize felt a surge of anticipation.
Steadying his mind, Lize asked again, "The modifications to Twilight Valley are complete, and the wolf packs have reached their hatching limit. Are we deploying them in this war?"
Su Nan nodded. "While the combat power of the wolf packs isn't on par with the Golem Legion, they make excellent cannon fodder."
The hatching speed in Twilight Valley is not slow; even if all nine hundred thousand Black Wolves perished, they could be re-hatched in about forty years. Su Nan felt no regret in using them as cannon fodder. However, the Twilight Wolves, which took over seven months to hatch a single one and over three hundred years to reach the maximum of six hundred and two, needed to be used with caution due to their long hatching time.
"However," Su Nan continued, "the main force of the initial attack will still be the Golem Legion."
Fundamentally, the invasion of a Plane was a race against time. While the opponent was still reacting and mobilizing their forces, the invaders needed to transport as many troops as possible, gain a foothold in the Plane, and establish a forward base. The success of the initial stage of the invasion largely depended on how many troops the invaders could bring in before the opponent could mobilize their response.
During the time of the Wave Plane, Youxi was defeated primarily because the Star Alliance's reaction speed was too swift. In just two or three hours, they mobilized enough troops to halt Gloomy Throne's invasion, preventing them from quickly expanding their forward base and establishing more Plane Channels for troop transportation.
In this regard, the Star Alliance undoubtedly had an innate advantage. The actions during the Earth Crystal Plane had already demonstrated the tremendous role the Magic Cube played in troop transportation. In just twenty-four hours, it transported fifty-three Star Fortresses, thirteen Flying Fleets, two Golem Army Groups, and an additional one hundred and twenty thousand Magic Pattern Knights into the Earth Crystal Plane.
In other words, if the Star Alliance wanted to, they could completely transport a Golem Army Group within half a day and then swiftly launch into war.
"Unless Ulan Plane establishes a comprehensive Monitoring and Transmission Network that spans the entire realm, like the Starlight Continent, there is no way they could mobilize sufficient troops in such a short time.
This time difference would be enough for the Star Alliance to secure a strong foothold in Ulan Plane.
The wolf packs, being intelligent life forms, couldn't be transported via the Magic Cube, so it would take time to bring them into Ulan Plane. Consequently, the initial attacks would primarily rely on Golem Puppets.
By the time all the troops had arrived, the Star Alliance would likely have already opened a front in Ulan Plane. At that moment, they could deploy the wolf packs to coordinate with the troops and launch a more aggressive offensive.
After discussing matters further, Lize left the Council Hall to get to work.
Su Nan needed to focus on the Elemental Furnace and didn’t have time to be distracted by other issues. She was responsible for coordinating most of the pre-war preparations and had been incredibly busy lately.
Su Nan then left the Council Hall and headed straight to the Laboratory."
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