Volume 4: The War of the Gods 139, Neither Life nor Death

  Mai Dianzuo controlled the flying shuttle to leave Amon's territory, which was much faster than riding a horse for a long distance. Amon reminded him to be careful on the road and try to avoid densely populated cities when flying in the sky. After a few more days, the guard who had been sent to the Isis Temple should have returned, but he hadn't seen anyone yet, and Amon was very puzzled.

  The highest authority in the Temple of Isis was the High Priestess, and the one responsible for all written documents was the High Priest George. Only these two could veto his request. Could it be that the scroll was so important that Maria or George would not agree to let Amun borrow it? Both publicly and privately, this possibility seemed very small.

  Just as Amun was thinking of sending someone to the Temple of Isis to urge them, a messenger from the Temple of Isis arrived. What surprised Amun was that it was High Priest George himself who brought the scripture. What's more surprising is that George also brought a message and a person.

  The news is about the Kingdom of Baren and the Hittite Kingdom, which recently went to war. The Hittite Kingdom suddenly withdrew despite having a great advantage because King Rushil died.

  At the same time that Gilgamesh invaded the Empire of Akkad, the elite Marduk corps of the Babylonian kingdom and another city-state corps, the Kish corps, had already assembled at a crossing point in the middle of the Euphrates River. When the Uruk corps advanced into Akkadian territory and occupied large tracts of land in the city-state of Ha'ik, the Marduk corps and the Kish corps also took advantage of the situation to cross the Euphrates River and approach the plain of Duru.

  The army of the Kingdom of Balan was stationed in the northeast corner of the Syrian Desert and the southeast corner of Lake Inland, also waiting for news from the Uruk Corps. If Gilgamesh's strategic intentions were realized, then the Balan army would have no more worries, the entire Syrian Desert would be within the control range of the Kingdom of Balan, and it could occupy the entire Duk Plain by taking advantage of the momentum to cross Lake Inland to the north.

  Hatti has just reached a peace agreement with the Egyptian Empire, and did not want to fight again. However, with strong enemies lurking around, it had no choice but to regroup its army and advance to the southwest corner of Lake Inner, where it awaits in battle formation.

  The Hatty army had not yet fully withdrawn, and it was also convenient to reassemble at this time. King Lucille did not return to the front line again, but returned directly to the capital. Before leaving, he wanted to reappoint Gao Lie as the commander-in-chief of the battlefield, and indeed no one was more suitable than him. However, Gao Lie refused this appointment and recommended Prince Yashen to the king.

  Prince Yase is Lucile's most beloved youngest son, this time following the king to conquer, during the period when Lucile was hijacked by Amun, Gare was not in the front-line camp. He had acted as the commander-in-chief of the battlefield and was also mediocre. This prince experienced the last big war, followed Gare with humility, and got along well with the generals on the front line. It is very suitable for him to be the commander-in-chief of the battlefield, whether it is identity, experience or connections, and it is a rare opportunity for exercise.

  Lucille had always been wary of Gure's influence in the country, and this suggestion was just what she needed. She appointed Aset as commander-in-chief of the war effort. Prince Aset himself had some misgivings, but asked Gure to serve as chief military chaplain, a new position that didn't previously exist. In reality, it meant assisting the prince in commanding battles on the front lines. Gure agreed.

  Prince Yase was named as the commander-in-chief, but he listened to and followed Koret's words. Koret suggested that he should hold back his troops and not rush into battle, so Prince Yase remained watchful and did not hasten to engage in combat. The two armies faced each other from a distance, yet presented an unusual state of silence.

  Eju and Hati are in an alliance, and Gale sends people to the city-state of Haicheng every day to get the latest battle report. The soldiers don't need to fight, but a group of divine masters in the army are exhausted, driving flying shuttles back and forth without stopping for a day. On the other side, Balen's large army is also waiting for news from the Uruk legion, and as soon as the southern front stabilizes, they can take advantage of the situation to advance.

  Even a great wizard, if he maintains enough physical strength and does not overexert himself, normally needs more than two days to ride the flying shuttle from Hatti's camp to Haicheng. At the same speed, it takes more than three days to cross the desert from Balen's camp to the rear of Uruk's army. That is to say, a round trip by flying shuttle requires seven days for Balen's army and five days for Hatti's army.

  In fact, the Balon army did not send such a dense and uninterrupted flying arrow to Gelong. Only a master of high-level space magic and air element magic can control the flying arrow, at least one must be a sixth-level master with deep magical power. How many masters need to be sent out in order to shuttle back and forth every day? No one knows how long this confrontation will last, it is also a huge consumption of human resources.

  The mainland's first warrior, Enqi, has fallen, and Gilgamesh is retreating in disarray. Song Lie received the news ahead of time, a full four days before the army of Balan. Upon receiving the news, Song Lie suggested that Prince Ya set out to launch a surprise attack immediately, while the army of Balan was still reeling from the shock.

  The battle plan was also made by Gao Lie, and Prince Ya set held the command of Enlil, Anu, and Nannar's three legions. However, Gao Lie's route of advance was not a direct attack on Balen's main camp, but rather a detour from the south through the Syrian Desert, with Nannar's legion launching a surprise attack from the north.

  This legion was certainly unable to defeat the Balrog army, and on the way back, Enlil's legion turned around and ambushed, responding to the retreat of the Nannar legion to block the counterattack of the Balrog army. As for the Anu troops personally formed by Song Lie, they did not care about the unfavorable situation in the rear battle, broke through the heavy defenses all the way, entered the territory of Balrog, and occupied the crossing on the west bank of the Yubu River.

  This tactic of dividing the enemy, blocking and raiding from behind threw the two legions of the Kingdom of Balen into great disorder. Once the crossing of the Yudi River was lost, their rear would be cut off. The main force of Balen initially won several victories, and it seemed that they were about to push the Southern Nal Legion and the Enlil Legion back into the desert. At this time, the Anu Legion occupied the crossing and seized the enemy's logistical supplies accumulated on the banks of the Yudi River.

  Under the suggestion of Ge Lie, Prince Ya set divided the Anu army into two parts. A small part was stationed on the west bank of the Yu Di River to block the reinforcements from the direction of Balen, and a large part returned to encircle and attack the rear of the Balen army, which had already been cut off. The Balen army immediately collapsed, almost being pushed all the way back to the inland lake, and after several rounds of bitter fighting, they barely managed to stand firm on the lakeshore, their backs against the water with no retreat possible.

  The sudden change in the front also shocked the Kingdom of Balen, and the Aiya army was urgently assembled to come and reinforce. If we talk about national strength, Balen is stronger than Hatti, its territory is wider, population is more, land is fertile, products are rich, and life is very rich, but national strength does not completely equal military combat power. Under the command of Prince Yase and Gere, the great battle unfolding around Lake Inland, Hatti has already occupied an absolute advantage.

  Balun had two biggest concerns about reinforcing the front line. The first was that the Aea Legion might not arrive at the front line in time, and even if they did, they would have to cross the river and launch a strong attack to capture the positions on the west bank of the Yu Di River. The crossing point on the opposite bank had already been lost, and the cost of crossing the river and fighting would be huge, taking up a lot of time. The besieged army waiting for reinforcements might not be able to hold out.

  In this case, the Kingdom of Balen ordered reinforcements to speed up their march on one hand, and sent envoys by flying arrow to negotiate a peace treaty with the Hatti camp on the other. The so-called peace treaty was actually surrender, they were willing to pay a ransom, asking the Hatti army to lift the siege, then withdraw two legions back to the east bank of the Yubu River, and both sides would stop fighting, thus minimizing losses for both parties.

  This is a humiliating task, but the envoy must have an important enough status. Generally, ministers do not have the qualifications to talk about it. The nobles pushed and shoved each other, and finally this task fell on Prince Feng Niu, who had always been idle and low-key. On the surface, Prince Feng Niu was not interested in competing for the throne, but he traveled among the people, making friends with various talents, which made King Hammurabi II's other nephews jealous. This time they collectively recommended that Prince Feng Niu take the blame.

  The king originally wanted to send Princess Xiaoyan as an envoy, but the princess played a trick and claimed that she was unwell and did not show up. The king's several nephews jointly recommended Feng Niu. As state affairs were important, although he knew it wasn't a good thing, Prince Feng Niu still accepted the order and left.

  Feng Niu brought only two attendants and arrived at the Hatian camp for negotiations by flying arrow controlled by the great wizard Jie Kai. Prince Yashen asked Gailot how to negotiate? Gailot suggested: The strategy against Feng Niu is "drag", neither rushing to conclude nor refusing to negotiate; towards Balen's army, it is "siege", neither launching a siege to annihilate nor allowing the opponent to have any breathing space; at the same time, mobilize heavy troops to reinforce the defense on the west bank of the Youdi River.

  The longer the delay, the more desperate the situation will be, and the stronger the defense of the Yu River will be. The more favorable the situation will be for Hati, and the higher the price that can be obtained in negotiations.

  Prince Yasheng did so, negotiating slowly and steadily, with increasingly high prices. Prince Fengyu endured the humiliation and reluctantly agreed. The young Prince Yasheng achieved such a brilliant victory in his first formal command of the army, and his mentality was also somewhat inflated. In the end, he even made a request.

  He demanded that the Kingdom of Balen recognize that the vast lands west of the Youdi River, which had been conquered by the Hatti army, be formally ceded to Hatti. This was the same demand that Gilgamesh had once made to the Empire of Egu. How could Prince Wen Yu dare agree? Even if the Hatti Kingdom demanded more wealth and resources, it could be tolerated, but this request crossed the line. Even if the Kingdom of Balen agreed, Prince Wen Yu himself would bear the infamy of history.

  The normally calm Prince Feng Yu finally lost his temper, decided not to talk about it anymore, and said to Prince Ya She: "If Your Highness is stubborn, then let's have a decisive battle! Even if you can annihilate the two legions of Balen and occupy the land west of the Yudi River, your own losses will not be small. The Kingdom of Balen will launch a counterattack with all its might, and no one will gain anything!"

  After saying this, Prince Feng Yu was about to leave immediately, and all the previously agreed conditions were cancelled. The negotiations officially broke down. Song Lie was commanding the army on the front line, and Liao Zhai Wangzi was negotiating in the big camp. As soon as he heard the news, he rushed back to remind the prince that his demands were indeed excessive. If he didn't want to completely turn against each other, they couldn't negotiate like this, and they couldn't turn a victory into a long-term war of attrition.

  Prince Yashur at this time also regretted, and hurriedly persuaded Prince Fengnu to take back the previous excessive demands and renegotiate. At this time, the E'ar army that had arrived in Balun to reinforce had already reached the east bank of the Yu River, but did not force a crossing, and was waiting for the result of the prince's negotiations. Just at this moment, the capital of Hatti suddenly sent an astonishing message, forcing Prince Yashur to hastily end the negotiations and retreat!

  King Luciel died of a sudden illness. According to the official statement, Luciel was shocked when he was hijacked by Amun and his mental state has not been good since then. On the way back to the capital, he contracted a cold, and although he received meticulous treatment from the priests, he never recovered.

  After returning to the capital, the king's mood eased and he relaxed, holding a grand feast for his ministers in the palace. However, he overindulged in wine and fell ill with a sudden sickness, passing away by midnight. The cause of the king's death was suspicious, but all the palace records were flawless, and no one dared to say anything more. A country cannot be without a ruler for even a day, so before his death, the king passed on the throne to his eldest son, Enis. At the same time that Prince Asa led the army in battle, his older brother had already ascended to the throne with the support of the ministers in the capital.

  After King Ennis ascended to the throne, he sent an urgent report to the front line to announce the death of his father and his own succession. At the same time, he urgently summoned Prince Aseto return to the capital to attend Lucille's funeral and ordered Garet to take over as commander-in-chief on the battlefield.

  Yazet and Ainis were originally contenders for the throne, each with their own power in the country. People had long understood that the new king after Luciel would inevitably be one of them. This time, letting Yazet lead the army to conquer, and having Guret assist him, Luciel's intention was already very clear, wanting to pass the throne to Yazet. Building achievements was just a preparation, and at the same time, it could also establish Yazet's prestige in the military.

  But no one expected Luciel to die so suddenly, and the eldest son Ainis took advantage of the situation to ascend to the throne, and on the surface, it was legitimate. He ordered as king that Prince Yase take off his commander-in-chief position on the battlefield and return to the capital immediately to attend Luciel's funeral. If Yase really handed over his military power and went back like this, wouldn't he be sending himself to death?

  Yaseth was shocked upon receiving the news and found Golreth for a long talk throughout the night. The content of their conversation was unknown to outsiders, but Prince Yaseth immediately ordered the messengers from the capital to be detained and forbidden anyone from spreading the news, lest it affect the morale of the army during the great war.

  Prince Zannanza claimed that he did not dare to believe that his father had died and sent an envoy back to the capital "to verify" it, suspecting that this time's messenger was a spy of the kingdom of Bahren who deliberately disguised himself as a messenger from the capital to disturb the Hittite army.

  This excuse is quite far-fetched, Lucille's death news is absolutely true, and Ashe is just stalling for time. He wants to end the war with Barren Kingdom before his envoy returns from the capital, and he is eager to complete the negotiations. Prince Vorneau seems to have also heard some rumors, and the situation at the negotiating table has reversed, with Prince Ashe being extremely anxious, as if he wanted to give Barren a sum of money and quickly send away the Barren army.

  Prince Feng was originally facing the humiliation of being ridiculed for taking on this difficult task, but unexpectedly he got a great bargain. He also knew to take advantage of the situation and didn't raise any excessive conditions, still paying a symbolic ransom, and reached an agreement with both countries to withdraw their troops.

  Prince Yasi hoped for a speedy resolution, and so Prince Fengyu did something magnificent. He took only two attendants and broke through the encirclement of the powerful Hatti army, entering the camp of Balen's army, and led out two battered and exhausted legions, all the way back to the safe area on the east bank of the Yu River. Then the Hatti army retreated, and Prince Fengyu again led the reinforced Aea legion across the Yu River, recovering the lost territory on the west bank that had been occupied by the enemy, from start to finish without a single soldier being killed.

  This caused a great sensation in the kingdom of Balen, and among the people's word of mouth, Prince Feng Nu also became a heroic figure in legend. He single-handedly entered the enemy camp without disgracing his mission, one man can be worth millions of teachers! After Enqi fell and Gilgamesh retreated, the people of Balen Kingdom needed a new hero to regain that deep sense of loss, and the appearance of Prince Feng Nu was timely, with no one in the country able to match his prestige for a time.

  His identity as a prince and one of the rightful heirs to the throne is something that neither Hattusili nor Mursili can match.

  Without mentioning how Prince Feng Nu became a hero of the entire Barren Kingdom, General Hatti did not hand over his military power. He returned to the capital to attend the funeral under the new king's orders, but he didn't go back alone; instead, he led the elite charioteers from the Hatti army. The Enlil legion was originally stationed in the capital and followed Prince Hatti back to their base, which was a normal procedure. Under the pretext of attending the king's funeral, General Hatti also brought his elite troops along, marching towards the capital city of Hattusa with great fanfare.

  George received the news when Prince Yase was just about to set off, and it seems that the internal strife of the Hati Kingdom is inevitable. It is said that Goro also returned to the capital with the prince, but it is unknown what role he will play.

  When Ahmose heard the news, he was deeply moved. He had once captured the former king of Hatti, Rushil, and held him for nearly half a month. Although this king was not particularly robust, his body should not have been so weak that he would die so quickly, especially with the constant care of the great divine healer who accompanied him. It seemed likely that there were other circumstances at play.

  He is also regretful for Gao Lie, Gao Lie led the main force of the Hati army and commanded two national wars, both of which were extremely outstanding, and should have won a big victory. As a result, both times ended in a draw, and the one who dragged his feet was King Luciel. This king is already dead, and his death was the last and most serious disaster for the country, truly not a good thing from birth to death.

  With a sigh, he asked the person beside George with a bitter smile: "General John, since your injury has healed, why didn't you go to take up your post in the Anra Legion, but instead followed the High Priest here?"

  George brought "guest", is the former vanguard commander of Anne-Laurel legion, John. Not long ago, Amun recommended him to succeed as the legion leader, Pharaoh did not veto, just said wait until John recovered and then appoint. Calculating the days, John should have taken office already, how could he have the leisure to come to Amun's territory as a guest?

  "General, don't mention it! I was just appointed and then dismissed, and my title was even downgraded!" John slammed his hand on the table.

  "What's going on? Has your bad temper acted up again and gotten you into some kind of trouble?"

  George shook his head and said, "This matter has a complex cause and effect, and it's not that General John's temper is violent. Listen to me explain slowly."

  The Pharaoh did not lose face to Amun and the military, when John recovered from his injuries and returned to the Dreamflight Military Affairs Bureau to report, the Pharaoh ordered him to be appointed as the commander of the Anla Legion, and set off for Haicheng City immediately. John was a straightforward person and went immediately.

  As John was on his way to Cape Town, the Pharaoh and the Egyptian military department in the capital received several impeachment reports against John. To make a long story short, during Amun's expedition, he had cleaned up several lazy priests who were not doing their job well, and at that time it was John who dragged them out of the army formation and beat them half to death with his own hands.

  One of the priests was seriously injured, and it is not clear whether he did it himself or John was too heavy-handed in his rage. Anyway, this person took the opportunity to leave the army and returned to the rear to recover from his injuries without even going into battle. At that time, Amun had no absolute authority, and the priests were under George's jurisdiction. George also had to nod in agreement because the priest was a distant nephew of Joseph, the Prime Minister of Egypt.

  This priest may be afraid of death and unwilling to go to the front line, or he may not be willing to be humiliated. However, later Amun built many merits on the battlefield, and the accompanying priests of Anra's army were all rewarded with high honors. All these merits did not belong to that priest, who was always dull and ridiculed by others, so he especially resented Amun and Johan.

  Ah Meng Gongxun Zhuo, now thinking of finding his fault is not wise, so this person stared at John. Wanting to catch John's handle was indeed not a few, some small things couldn't move him, but one accusation was very serious, John had publicly scolded Pharaoh's command as farting.

  That was after the battle with the Hittite army and just returned to Egypt, the news of Uruk's surprise attack had not yet arrived, Pharaoh had ordered Ahmose to be removed from his position as commander of the legion. John, who was halfway there, happened to meet the messenger and heard the news, he was furious and shouted: "Bullshit! Ahmose is a warrior, what position is more suitable than the commander of the Imperial Legion? Even if you want to appoint him to another position, it can be held concurrently with the commander of the legion!"

  At that time, John had his hand on the hilt of his sword, surrounded by soldiers, and was exuding an aura of killing intent. The onlookers' faces turned pale with fear. Just then, Julian, the great magician, arrived with Pharaoh's second order, appointing Amun as the commander-in-chief of the battlefield, which made John stop his tantrum.

  This matter can be big or small, if no one pursues it, it will pass like this, a general just swore. But if you really want to investigate and collect evidence, make a big deal out of it, and write a written impeachment report in divine script and send it to the Ministry of War and the Pharaoh, the nature of the problem becomes serious.

  The Pharaoh claimed to be the earthly representative of Horus, symbolizing the will of the gods, guarding and ruling Egypt. His formal commands were equivalent to the effect of divine oracles. Who dares to say that the oracle is nonsense? This is blasphemy, profanity, and humiliation of the imperial dignity, which must be severely punished!

  A eunuch might not have been able to stir up such a storm, but he went to the Imperial Chancellor Yue Ke to complain tearfully. The Chancellor intervened secretly and obtained the signed testimony of the envoy at that time, as well as the testimony of others present, and then impeached him.

  The imperial prime minister had other considerations for intervening in this matter, and he also wanted to use this matter to strike at the military forces that rose after the war, especially to weaken the influence of the newly risen Amun. Although Amun handed over his military power, his remaining prestige in the military still existed, and John was his most important direct descendant, which was also somewhat following the Pharaoh's hint.

  Although there was such an impeachment and the evidence was conclusive, it was not good to deal with a meritorious minister casually. The Ministry of War was planning to send someone to Haicheng City to confront John in person, asking him whether he had done this or not, and if so, what was the reason? This is equivalent to giving John an opportunity to explain. However, just at this time, another thing happened, and the god who impeached John was killed by someone, but the murderer was not caught.