Whispers of a Dead Empire

Chapter 158

While the undead was busy picking through the remains of the zombie, I grabbed my sword and used the dead juggernaut to clean its venerable edge before I slid it back into its sheath. It's been so long since I've felt this alive. I rolled my head, shot my gaze across my undead, and watched as they quickly picked apart the dying horde. They were efficient, and they didn't tire. That meant work got done at a blistering rate, making logistical planning all the easier.

I crossed my arms and scanned the battlefield as I devised a plan. We were nearing the kill zone for the outer city perimeter. That meant we needed to fortify our line and repair more roads to ensure supplies got to the front. Once we took the town, I could get tracks to the city. That way, I could have a fully functioning logistics center that could craft our weapon needs and act as a central defense point. The pressing issue, however, will be getting past the forward observers. No doubt they knew of our arrival, and were already preparing themselves. "Amari," I called out, knowing she was nearby. After all, the empress did need to protect her investments.

She appeared in front of me in the blink of an eye, almost as if the air had birthed her. She glanced around before resting her eyes on me and nodded. She was never much for words. Always the strong silent type.

"Amari, gather your assassins and start gathering intel on the forward observers." The assassin nodded her head at my words and, in the blink of an eye, vanished in the wind as if she were nothing more than ash.

Even in death, she never changed. Though, even in life, I hardly knew her. Throughout the legions, she was known as the silent executioner. She was a fleeting ghost in life, and wherever she traveled, heads rolled, and people vanished. Even the public, who knew very little of her, knew of the legends that surrounded her. I could think of a few examples of some rhymes the children have come up with. My favorite was the story of the reaper who lingers in the dark and hunts down all the naughty children. It always brought a smile to my face when I thought about it. But that was neither here nor there. For now, I needed to make sure that the crusade was as smooth, especially with the next phase about to come into play.

A few hours later:

I stood staring at a map that the advanced scouts had drawn. The undead here have already set up defensive perimeters around the kill zone, and no doubt the security was getting beefed up in the process. The undead surrounding the city showed signs of intelligence, much like the troops I was wielding. At best, they were all mindless and could easily be overwhelmed. At worst, they were well disciplined and would force the crusade to grind to a halt as we tried to ply their weak points.

No matter how I thought it through, things looked slightly grim. The kill zone would be thick with long-range artillery, though until I heard from Amari, I wouldn't know if they refitted the placements. At one point, we were rolling out experimental cannons to strike at long-range targets. Though in use in tandem with our mages, the long-range bombardment would be potent. But I prayed to whatever god that listened it wasn't the case. I didn't have the materials or the troops to deal with such a threat.

I reached out towards my pen, tapped it against the table, and glanced through my notes from the engineer corps. The idea of the steam engine has spread through their ranks, and they were already working on implementing it into other things. The most promising of all was what they had labeled a steam tank powered by a miniature version of the steam engine. There were discussions going on about using it to pierce no-man's-land and carry troops through the bombardment.

With mages on board, they should be able to deflect a lot of the incoming attacks, which would ease the need for heavy armor. But we were still critically low on a lot of resources. Which was severely hampering our efforts to circumvent their defenses. I might scrape together enough metal to create a tank prototype, but we were also facing a time shortage. Once we take the city, I could dedicate more manpower to experimental designs that could help us further our crusade.

But that was for the future more than anything. For now, I would allow for a commission of a single tank with what I had on hand and use it as a trump card if it pans out. I placed the paper back on the table and skimmed through the rest of the paperwork. Let's see, the quartermaster commander has sent me a detailed invoice of all of our equipment and who currently has what. Next to that was a message from the commander who was tasked with restoring infrastructure and ensuring that the supply lines were kept up to par.

So far, it was going well, and the roads were being repaired and expanded to handle higher traffic levels. Pipes were getting laid recently to better distribute the water supply and materials were being mined for the war effort. Stone flowed steadily to the front, and logs were getting processed so buildings could be repaired. I nodded my head and set the stack of papers down on the table. Good, everything was moving smoothly. All that was left was the killing zone, and how I was going to get through it.

A flicker of wind pulled me from my thoughts, and my eyes shifted toward the source. Amari stood there with a notebook in her hand. Her eyes glimmered softly as she passed it over to me before she vanished once more. Which was fine. I didn't expect her to sit around and talk. Which was good; if there was anything that I appreciated, it was how curt she was.

I flicked open the first page and skimmed the contents. So, the security detail has been increased, much to my dismay. But on the flip side, the artillery is still ran and maintained by a mage corp. Which is good. Once we take out the forward observers, we could disrupt the casting ritual to minimize casualties.

That also left the communication lines, which appeared to be relatively rudimentary. A small fleet of carrier pigeons is the primary way they shifted information around. So that would be an easy fix. We just have to ensure that we are using magic to jam any communication they may try to force through.

At this moment, I think I will use Amari and her assassins to take out the forward observers in a surprise attack. With them reeling backward, I can send some elite strike teams through the kill zone to take out the mage groups. Once we silence the artillery, I could afford to send my legion in, clean up, and establish a beachhead to the city. It would be a risky play, but at this point, it was the best plan that I had. All that was left was to put it into motion.