Chapter 878: The Bloodhorn Army Group

In Peace Haven, Henwell studies reports from the various fronts.

The fighting on the Northern Mountain Front has already reached the peak intensity of the Calamity War.

Even so, the four legions of Peace Haven's Central Army Group, together with the First Cavalry Legion, have largely withstood the elite mountain demon army's attacks.

Several warbands transferred from Cloud Tree City and Liverpool are now in position.

With the Phoenix family's Silver Claw Legion now on the line as well, the two sides have reached a strategic stalemate.

The rear remains untouched by Calamity creatures and can keep sending supplies and reinforcements to the front.

As time passes, the Northern Mountain Front will only grow stronger. The Northern Mountain Raiders' chances of breaking through are dwindling.

In Billie, however, the fighting is steadily intensifying.

Peace Haven's enclave at Bloodhorn Town has become a new center of production.

After the alliance agreement was signed, Peace Haven transferred personnel and supplies to Bloodhorn Town to build up a larger production system.

With the support of Catherine, the War Rose, numerous factories were built on the land surrounding the town.

At the same time, the Billie Kingdom's council finally relaxed its restrictions and allowed Bloodhorn Town to open schools.

The alliance also authorized the town to raise an army of any size, on one condition: all its troops would have to deploy to the eastern coastal front.

Chick, who had been "sent away" to Billie, had begun preparing for this after fighting opened on the Northern Mountain Front.

Over the years, Bloodhorn Town had already built up a substantial paramilitary force.

Once authorization arrived, the town dropped the pretense and immediately formed a regular force of three warbands.

It also has more than three thousand cavalry. Recruitment and training continue at full speed.

Chick intends the new Bloodhorn Legion to field six standard warbands, one cavalry warband, one artillery regiment, and one support warband.

At full strength, the legion is to number fifty thousand.

As the Bloodhorn Legion expands, several nearby arenas have all been placed under Bloodhorn Town's authority.

In effect, more than a thousand square kilometers of land now fall under the town's jurisdiction.

There is a price, though. Bloodhorn Town must provide Billie with enough war supplies.

Chick had arrived at Bloodhorn Town before Calamity Year One.

By Calamity Year Five, when the alliance was formed, the town had accumulated a substantial pool of personnel and resources.

Over the next two years, Bloodhorn Town expanded its production capacity at a frantic pace.

It supplied Billie with weapons and equipment for three legions at cost.

The next phase begins next year, Calamity Year Seven.

From then on, Bloodhorn Town will provide equipment for two standard legions, twelve thousand men in total, every year.

There are also quotas for special supplies.

These include two hundred sets of extraordinary equipment, four hundred enhancement slots, and twenty thousand sets of assorted medical potions...

Some deals are kept out of public view.

These include quantities of Heart-Piercing Lotus, Thunder Hand Cannons custom-made for powerful nobles and officers, and Thunderclap Ballistas supplied with ammunition.

The ballistas are conventional heavy-draw weapons, not steam ballistas. They fire Thunderclap Ballista Bolts.

Their range exceeds eight hundred meters, making them useful weapons for fire support alongside advancing troops.

Finally, Peace Haven dispatched a group of researchers from its home territory to set up a biological research institute in Bloodhorn Town.

They are to analyze samples of the extraordinary creatures obtained there, especially extraordinary sea monsters.

The Bloodhorn Research Institute will share its findings with Billie.

Billie cannot buy all this with a few grants of land.

It must also provide raw materials for production and mining sites.

Bloodhorn Town can requisition any civilians it needs, as long as they are not combat personnel.

The town also requires at least two thousand children orphaned by the coastal fighting each year.

That may sound like a large number, but much of Billie's eastern coast has already fallen.

Large numbers of civilians have been forced to flee, and Billie's authorities cannot be counted on to find homes for them.

Apart from the War Rose's faction, all the princes on the council regard these refugees as burdens.

Billie's factions know Bloodhorn Town is building up its own power. Even so, none has refused.

The princes also understand that once the war is over, a greatly expanded Bloodhorn Town will be a problem.

That can wait until the war is over. First, they have to survive it.

Billie is facing the Tidal Pirate Legion on its own, and the pressure is already immense.

Several of the princes have recently begun losing their hair by the handful.

Never mind Bloodhorn Town's present army of more than ten thousand. Even if it grew ten times larger, Billie would accept it, so long as the troops were willing to fight at the front.

Henwell has now appointed Chick governor-general of Bloodhorn District, responsible for all military and civil affairs in the area.

Next year, Chick must honor the agreement and send the Bloodhorn Legion to fight on the eastern coast.

Chick comes from an intelligence background. He knows the front well.

He will spot any attempt to use the Bloodhorn Legion as a sacrificial shield.

Billie has assigned the legion a position at Bloodmark Cape. The Great Eastland Island to its east has already fallen.

Great Eastland Island covers nearly fifty thousand square kilometers, yet only three hundred thousand of its people have made it back. The fate of the remaining hundreds of thousands is unknown.

At present, Billie's fiercest fighting is concentrated in three areas.

The first is Cape City in the south, Billie's greatest strategic stronghold on South Bay.

If it falls, most of the kingdom's navy will have nowhere to base itself.

The second is Eastmount City, where the enemy has launched several major campaigns.

The third is South Bay City, directly opposite the Calamity lair known as the Raging Tide Maelstrom.

It is also the home port of the Empire's central navy, where its ships are built and repaired.

If it falls, the kingdom will no longer be able to monitor or contain the Tidal Pirate Legion.

Sea monsters and those mutated pirates are formidable both on the water and beneath it.

But Billie is the continent's foremost naval power, and it has ways to fight back.

The kingdom has fitted sharp blades along the bottoms of its warships to prevent attacks from below.

Various extraordinary runestones reinforce the hulls and give the ships their speed.

Their specialized extraordinary ballistas can also inflict severe damage on elite sea monsters.

Billie cannot fight a decisive battle at sea. It is far from helpless, though.

The enemy therefore concentrates its attacks on the fleets' home ports.

The Bloodhorn Legion is to deploy to Bloodmark Cape, north of South Bay City. The peninsula has recently come under heavy attack.

If it falls, the navy at South Bay City will lose a safe channel for entering and leaving port.

The enemy also intends to use it to advance north and threaten Divine Revelation City, forcing the kingdom to divert troops.

Chick has already selected the defensive positions. Work on the fortress cluster is being rushed ahead.

The Bloodhorn Legion is to hold its ground there and slaughter any Calamity creatures that try to break through.