Translated by Tianic, edited by Grammarly
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"Cecilia!" Several hundred operational squadrons marched head to head into PUF"s bastion for the second time. Commanded by a reasonable amount of officers, these soldiers yelled out their styles of slogans in order to judge their friendly armies" location.
Between breathes, AUF"s special forces, though deployed behind time, arrived into the maze-like clay walls ahead of the other troops.
These special force soldiers were better suited to be called martial artists. They have received unusually rigorous training until adulthood and were positioned in the army as the power capable of turning the table at critical moments. There was a world of difference between these martial artists and everyday soldiers from either AUF or PUF.
AUF"s special forces were bouncing between walls and springing over the fences, PUF defenders could barely see a flash before the man disappeared.
As a Scorpion Warrior skimmed over a dirt-made barrier, his silver-colored double blades sent out repeatedly as whole rows of PUF crossbow archers who have been hiding behind fell one by one. The bows dropped were all loaded and waiting to be triggered. However, they were not able to fight back anyhow given the Scorpion Warrior"s uncanny speed.
Three pikemen screamed while thrust their spears to a tall and robust special force soldier. Unexpectedly, this vigorous foe blocked all three spears with his single giant sword. Then, he knocked toward the clay wall with his bare body. After the dust went off, the wall was made a man-like hole on it. The 3 PUF pikemen were made 6 body parts before they could even react.
Resorted on the peculiar combat power, these special force soldiers charged into PUF"s ground. After verifying the geographic certainty, they led their belonging squadron into the field. These martial specialists will neutralize hidden enemy axmen and crossbow archers, then the soldiers behind advanced gradually and cleaned the rest of the tunnels between walls. The safe areas were marked for following troops.
How could PUF"s regular soldiers compete with AUF"s elite special forces? Under the storm-like attack, PUF frontline was in a general turmoil. Bright-colored suits bounced between walls, blood splashed. Between screamings, there were soldiers" body parts being tossed continuously up on purpose. Moreover, some AUF elite soldiers even leaped onto the wall tops with captured PUF soldiers who were still alive. They dodged the incoming arrows while tortured the soldiers in their hands slowly to their death.
They were avenging; they were imposing. They were challenging the soldiers and officers from the Phantom Legion as a whole.
Seeing all these, countless PUF soldiers behind the frontline yelled with sorrow. For them, comrades were the closest friends besides commander Cohen. Seeing their friends dying in front of their eyes was the grimmest thing for them. However, they knew they were less capable of defeating these dreadful enemies. They could do nothing but glared their reddened eyes, expecting for these horrible foes’ ends.
Commander Cohen will not allow them to live because he treasured soldiers" lives!
They will die ugly!
Just after a Scorpion Warrior finished his job cleaning the axmen behind a clay wall and ready to bounce to his next target, a whistling arrow traveled casually toward him.
The warrior sneered then without even aiming, he clashed his blade and made the arrow into halves before it could reach within a length of an arm.
"PUFF!"
After a dull sound, a lump of whitish fog ejected from the broken arrow and encircled this Scorpion Warrior. In seconds, the enchanted spell on the arrow tore the man into pieces.
From the moment the warrior cut the arrow, encircled by magic until he was killed, the Scorpion Warrior couldn"t even make a sound.
On the contrary, a group of soldiers screamed out of the b.l.o.o.d.y scene. In AUF soldiers’ eyes, forces such as Scorpion Warriors were legends. Their fighting style was like a meat grinder in the enemy camp. Breaking the enemy"s defense was such a joke to them that they could barely be wounded. Dying like this was an utter astonishment.
Before their screaming went off and the blood mist dissipated, another special force soldier with a team of men has arrived. He was a barbarian. He marched in with his giant ax after breaking a clay wall sitting in front of him.
Then after an intense beam of light, the soldiers followed heard only a giant noise from the hole. Right after cold sweats began to appear on their foreheads, a smell of burnt meant accompanied with a huge puff of black dust were blown out from behind the wall.
The news traveled quickly, 2 more special soldiers dashed in relentlessly and leaped onto the wall from left and right. They moved fast with proper surrounding technique. Even their movements were looking graceful!
Then came a series of loud killing sounds. The combat result turned out moments later.
These 2 warriors were the miserable kind. They leaped in then were tossed out as if the scene played backward. The only difference between in and out was the ice and fire on them when they were thrown deadly back out.
With 2 depressing sounds, the two dropped from half air.
The one that was on fire, his body have shrunk into the size of a baby. The frozen one was even worse as his body crashed into the irreparable pieces when he dropped and bounced on the ground. His only intact frozen head rolled over by the soldier"s feet and stopped under a wall. His widely opened eyes glared the sky.
Looking at the burning body and the ice cubes under the feed, the AUF soldiers lost their words until they finally recalled they were at war when one of them was shot and fell.
They had no time to consider what happened before they engaged in fights with PUF"s counter offensive troops.
The mysterious power that killed the earlier AUF special forces belonged to a Hunting Squadrons under Cohen Kheda"s command. It specialized in handling AUF special forces.
After the last time Cohen"s troops engaged Viscount Guildford"s vanguards, the 300 Scorpion Warrior"s combat ability shattered Cohen"s faith. Following multiple discussions, Cohen established the Hunting Squadron. Each squadron had 5~10 members including the most outstanding elf warlocks, archers who never missed a shot as well as IGT officers who were best at close combat. When dealing with the enemy special forces, these soldiers will make good on his team members" deficiencies and excesses in order to outnumber their foes by relying on the geographical advantage. Countless AUF special forces died like so.
With the support from the Hunting Squadron, AUF"s small advantage was temporarily chopped. Now it was an equal fight. The brutal seesaw game once again started. Although Protoss United Forces took the timely opportunity of both topography and human minds, AUF"s follow-up troops were still pouring in. As blood stained the dirty ground, each and every clay wall saw the soldiers of both sides fighting for every valuable inch of land.
AUF"s Lieutenant General did not show much concern about the news that their special forces were suppressed by the enemy, though he was equally shattered by it.
"Carry on the strategy. Deploy more special forces as the plan!" He told a staff officer, "We had considerable casualties, but it"s worth it! We"ve captured part of their frontline. As long as we capture enough, we will be able to support the front battle effectively. Tell the commanders to hold steadily!"
"Roger!"
"And inform the rear troops to prepare to take over the fight!"
"Yes, sir!"
As a new batch of AUF"s backup troops took over the heavy toll of lives from the battlefield, the war continued. Compared to which, PUF had no reinforcements to deploy anyhow. They could only struggle to hold a little longer. AUF was nibbling PUF"s precious lands.
Asmodian United Forces have pushed its way into ¼ of PUF"s bastion from the start of the war in the morning until lunchtime. Both parties had gains and losses to fight to take over a more significant portion of the clay city. Both sides suffered significant casualties as dispersed and unrecognized soldiers were all but everywhere waiting for their friendly troops to fight back.
"Sir!" One more team of reconnaissance came back to the AUF command post, "The fight is boiling on the frontline. The enemies aim to decentralize our troops. Special forces are encountering powerful opposing force…"
"Sir! The enemies have started striking back! They"re fierce and fast. Their composition is weird enough. Less than half of the soldiers in a squadron are fully equipped, the rest have just rugs…"
"It looks like the Phantom Legion is short on soldiers. They did supply manpower from the refugees." Lieutenant General nodded and said, "In this case, it"s time to deploy the archers!"
"Inform the 26th, show time." Lieutenant General said, "I cannot tolerate a single soldier from the Phantom Legion to move freely!"
"Yes, sir!"
Half an hour later, AUF has finally cleared enough s.p.a.ce at its rear end to welcome the light cavalries from the 26th. Ten thousand riders from 4 regiments abandoned their horses and ran above. Then the heavy-loaded infantries formed a strong barrier with their giant shields. The rest carried war bows and large arrows on their backs.
Bow and arrow were always riders" most handy weapons. The riders became qualified archers once they were off the horses. Though the rider"s horse bows were less capable of having a long shooting range than the enhanced war bows, the current situation did not require the arrows to travel far as long as the metal heads can land on the enemies" heads.
As the archers" commander said his order, hundreds of thousands of arrows launched from the AUF side. The ma.s.sive amount of ri-bodkin-arrows flew over like dark clouds.
According to the plan, PUF had a standard protocol against the enemy"s arrows. Each battle position had shielding points on. However, those moving soldiers were the unluckiest. Though Cohen had given each of his soldiers the best armor on this continent, the armors had revealing parts. Even though the chance of those parts getting shot was meager, such a dense arrow attack has raised the opportunity for anyone to be unlucky.
Besides, there were a large number of clansmen from the 36 tribes who did not have armors. They were moving the wounded to the back of the city.
After 10 full rounds of shootings came a short moment of silence in both in and out of the bastion except for the battling front.
On the AUF side, archers were waiting for further orders. Their commander pondered for a moment. He was considering whether he should let his men enlarge the range or shorten it. Due to blockage of the clay walls, he was short on intelligence if this attack was effective.
On the contrary, his enemies knew loud and clear about the outcome. Just within the AUF"s firing range, PUF has undertaken its worst death toll since the start of the war.
200 refugees who volunteered to move the injured along with the wounded, none survived.
1, 700 unarmored clansmen who were ready to enter the bastion made a pool of blood, none survived.
300 PUF soldiers on the open ground hit the jackpot, half of them were combat incapacitated.
17 elf warlocks who dodged untimely were shot and became arrow mounds.
50 PUF captains suffered severe injuries.
More than 10 battalion leaders were wounded.
A regiment leader, KIA.
AUF arrows distributed uniformly in every inch of the PUF"s defensive ground. Those dark arrows with white feathers looked like a dense ma.s.s of wild gra.s.s from a distance.
Without too much time to think, those who evaded the arrows rushed out and robbed back the ones who survived the arrow rain.
"Set up watch posts and protections!" Cohen"s heart stroked then a piece of command escaped his lips, "And the arrows, fetch the arrows!"
AUF continued firing, the firing range this time extended a bit.
All PUF soldiers within the firing range have all hidden. They heard a ma.s.s of dull buzzing sounds then the sounds of arrows nailed into walls from all direction.
"PUFF, PUFF, PUFF…" The sounds struck their nerves continuously.
Due to the enemy"s arrow attack has sealed both the front and the back of the clay city ground, PUF logistics personnel had to risk to lay covers over the primary transportive tunnel. Although they have paid extra attention to protect themselves, more soldiers were shot and fell. There were soldiers sacrificed for each cover set up.
Meanwhile, in the 9th Legion command center, Cohen took the liberty to only make adjustments of the frontier troops. The rest affairs were all left to the staff officers. The staffs" function was fully executed after going through so many major incidents: they"ve done soldier supplement, changes in the tunnels, replacement of the officers.
"Carlos!"
"Sir!"
"Is the break-out troops ready?" Cohen asked, "Are they familiar with the procedure?"
"All settled, sir!" Carlos replied, "The regiment leaders have been studying. I believe they"ve fully understood your intention!"
"The break-out troops" home position is well-concealed!" Cohen said, "Tell the ground troop to retread and selectively let a portion of the enemy in. Twist the defense structure. We can"t let them fire any more arrows!"
"Sir, yes, sir!"
Gradually, PUF troops started retreating from the fighting ground. Thus AUF began to take over more area of the clay city. As the 3-mile bastion was closed to 2 miles, most of the 27th and the 28th have entered the city. At this moment, they encountered the 9th Legion"s few battalions of their 3rd regiment: the most hardened troops. It was the most robust opposing force AUF has ever encountered since the start of the war!
AUF"s single soldier combat power was offset by PUF"s terrain advantage. And again, PUF soldiers inner cooperation was far better than their opponents. Thus the war situation was deadlocked. Batches of AUF troops marched on and were defeated in batches. The wounded had to be temporarily treated at the command post near the war then will be carried by carriages to the rear end. Seeing the injury toll and the endless line of wagons, AUF officers, whether big or small, were secretly stunned!
The Phantom Legion"s combat ability was an utter astonishment. It was never a slave army! It was totally PUF"s best of the best. If they were indeed an army of slaves, its commander was inconceivable! He actually trained the weak and demeaning slaves, the war expendables into mighty lions!
To this end, morning until noon, for any other PUF main battle legions, they might have been utterly routed. As one should know, AUF"s 26th~28th Legions were elite troops with excellent war records. Though the enemies had the geography advantage, it was not supplied for nearly dozen days, and they held up for so long. Their tough style, high morale, and excellent command, as well as brilliant training, have owned AUF"s respect.
However, the war had to carry on.
"Sir! Our central troops have advanced to a mile from the enemy end war!"
"What about the side troops?"
"They"re a mile behind due to the enemy traps!"
"Behind?" Lieutenant pondered.
"Sir, should we break them in chunks and…" A staff officer said.
"No! We can"t give them any spare time and s.p.a.ce to make adjustments. That way they won"t be able to surround our central troops." Lieutenant General said promptly, "Order the central troops to be steady and wait for the side! Leave sufficient men to defend the captured area. Wait until all our troops push down to enemy"s back wall. The battle should be over by then."
"Yes, sir!"
However, this order came a little late.
Meanwhile on the desperate battleground. AUF"s side troops were desperately marching forward. Its commander, however, received the news that the central troops were sieged. A mile from the enemy"s heart was the most critical place of the entire battle. They cannot let PUF surround and kill the central troops. Without time to report, AUF"s 2 side army took the liberty to alter directions and marched down to rescue the central troop!
Cohen was waiting for this exact moment.
"Initiate the break-out!" Cohen yelled on the wall, "Gardena, sound the drums! Boost our morale!"
"Awwww!" Gardena made a bizarre yelling and struck on his master drum. What a miserable old man. In order to cooperate with Cohen"s combat plan, he has broken his ancestors" tradition for G.o.d-knew how many times.
The drum sounds saw PUF"s well planned break-out plan.
The first performers were the mages. Unlike AUF"s mages who exhausted their mana last night, Cohen"s mages have been stocking energy.
Behind the rear city wall sat a giant magic field. A hundred elf warlocks were standing on it.
In the neat chantings, the sky above the clay city started to change. The once sunny and bright air began to see ma.s.sive dark clouds. These clouds intertwined, the gale that carried sands and stones blew. The entire clay city and its peripheral area started to get hazy. The sky was so dark as if it was pushing onto the ground.
"This spell…" In the AUF command center, Lieutenant General gazed at the blowing army banner, he was confused, "is it Stormion?"
He was right, it was indeed Stormion. It was rational for him to be confused because Stormion was not a spell for damage. And it was useless on the battlefield. The best outcome of it was to wet the soldiers. Would it really help the situation?
Sure, Cohen knew the logic. The reason he ordered to release this large-scale Stormion was to take advantage of the darkness before the storm. His 100 grand elves were able to hold the dark for a long time.
For the first time, horn blowing was heard from PUF"s side.
"SLASH!" A brilliant bolt of lightning touched the ground in front of the AUF command center. It was quite eye-catching in the dark sky.
"Attack…"
"Attack…"
"Did you hear something?" Lieutenant General tried and asked his staff officer, "The dull sounds."
His staff officer shook his head.
"SLASH!" One more lightning bolt went down!
"NO!" Lieutenant General suddenly saw his light, "Enemy"s main is striking back!"
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