131. The Great Counterattack 1

Following this arduous and grueling battle, Mo Fei’s troops were utterly exhausted. After ordering the consolidation of their positions and dispatching scouts, he had thirty thousand imperial ballistae mounted along the foremost line of defense.

The loss of nearly half a million men in a single engagement—forty thousand of whom had perished simply due to their refusal to obey orders—weighed heavily on Mo Fei’s heart. He summoned all the commanders of the imperial coalition. As they approached him, they trembled with fear, for they had not forgotten how Mo Fei had ruthlessly executed over forty coalition commanders during his time at the Flying Dragon Empire.

"I want to know your thoughts on the fate of those four hundred thousand imperial coalition troops," Mo Fei said. He did not immediately order their execution as he had before, which allowed the commanders to breathe a slight sigh of relief, though his question placed them in an awkward position. Were they to admit that their own greed for merit had driven them to disobey orders?

"My failure lay in trusting you too much. I thought that after the incident at the Flying Dragon Empire, you would take it to heart, but..." Mo Fei’s stern gaze swept across the commanders, causing them to break into a cold sweat. "I miscalculated. I overestimated your command and control capabilities. An army like yours, beyond causing me immense pain, will only plunge my entire strategy into chaos. You may choose such a death, but the soldiers of the Death Empire shall not die so ignobly."

Mo Fei struggled to temper his anger. "In a moment, take your brothers' ashes and leave. From this point on, the Death Empire has no further need of you—not now, nor ever again. Go and settle your affairs."

The coalition commanders were utterly humiliated. With heads bowed, they retreated from Mo Fei’s presence, not daring to look him in the eye. They had all foolishly assumed the enemy was made of clay. In the end, all they had achieved was filling the deep trenches with the corpses of their own men. Their impulsiveness had forced the Death Empire to reveal its hand and engage in a day and night of bitter fighting against an enemy several times their size. Had it not been for the timely arrival of Kane’s cavalry, which forced a large-scale enemy retreat, Mo Fei’s losses would have been far greater than just a few tens of thousands of imperial troops. Clearly, this attack had failed to strike the enemy and had instead exposed his own strengths and weaknesses.

Mo Fei knew that the enemy’s counterattack would likely come by tomorrow. If he could not decisively crush that counterattack, his so-called "all-out offensive" would become a laughingstock.

With a grave expression, Mo Fei walked along the defensive line, seeing his Berserker infantry, exhausted from the day’s chaotic fighting, slumped on the ground in a deep sleep. Standing guard were the one hundred thousand Dwarf crossbowmen who had arrived with the ballistae. Beside every ballista, a squad stood watch—a tradition of the Death Empire.

"Young Master, should we call up all the remaining soldiers of the Empire?" Kane asked, noting the clear lack of manpower now that the imperial coalition had been dismissed.

"Losing them is merely losing half a million. We still have nearly a million troops; that is enough," Mo Fei replied calmly. Kane knew, however, that they would be facing over three million enemy soldiers tomorrow.

Yet, Mo Fei’s confidence proved infectious to Kane and the other commanders. Besides, they had thirty thousand ballistae; that alone would be enough to give the enemy a taste of misery tomorrow. Once the elite imperial troops were rested, they would surely make the enemy pay a price they could not afford.

Elder Aufo sent over the bolts for the crossbows throughout the night, stacking them in batches and by type behind the defenders, just as before, so they were within easy reach. Elder Aufo understood that their offensive had turned into a defense; if they failed to strike a beautiful blow against the enemy tomorrow, their Emperor Mo Fei would be a laughingstock. He worked through the night to ensure everything was ready.

...

Dawn broke. After a night of rest, the Berserkers were once again full of vigor. Behind them, a seemingly endless stream of logistics soldiers worked to supply arrows to the front lines. Every Bear-clan mage had received a pile of fruits from the Elven Kingdom that could restore vital energy. To their regret, they had heard that Emperor Mo Fei possessed magical "elixirs." When they went to ask him, Mo Fei saw the fruits in their hands and seemed to understand. He took some blue pills he had never tested before from his storage bag and distributed them. "Keep these in your mouths for now, and sit in meditation to rest."

With three thousand Bear-clan mages, Mo Fei did not have enough pills for everyone. To maximize the effect, he selected two hundred mages, giving each two pills—one to keep in their mouth now, and one for when they felt fatigued. The chosen mages sat down gleefully to rest, while the others gathered around. The fruits they held would only be useful if eaten when exhausted, so they served merely as a breakfast for now.

Yesterday, these three thousand mages had played a massive role; under their bombardment, the enemy’s reinforcements had suffered heavy losses. Otherwise, who held these positions would be a real question. Now, with the entire defensive line secured, Mo Fei positioned them on high ground, protected by a battalion of Berserker crossbowmen. From this height, they could see more clearly and strike from further away. However, the sixty mages remained steadfastly by Mo Fei’s side, following him wherever he went, and no amount of persuasion could change their minds, so he let them be.

"Young Master, the enemy is starting to move." Mo Fei was inspecting the lines, giving orders for defense, when he received the report from the Elven scouts.

"Have they arrived?"

"Not yet," the Elven scout replied. "They are currently assembling in their main camp; they should be coming shortly."

"Good. Tell the brothers to keep an eye on their movements. Report every single action they take the moment they leave the camp."

"Understood."

The Elven scout withdrew, knowing exactly what to do. There was no need for further instruction.

As the scouts returned, everyone understood the enemy was on the move. They stepped up the fortification work, and the logistics soldiers accelerated their deliveries to the front line.

"Kane, do you see that high ground over there?" Mo Fei pointed to a hill on the flank of the enemy’s path. It was far from the current battlefield, so Mo Fei had not sent anyone to occupy it, and the enemy, deeming it too far, had ignored it as well.

"Young Master..." Kane understood what Mo Fei was thinking.

"If infantry were to go up there, it would be of little use. But you cavalry are different. That hill is a bit far from the battlefield, but that is only relative to infantry. For your cavalry, this distance is the perfect range for a charge. Do you understand?"

"Young Master, I understand. I will go now. I will certainly be able to hide the troops there before the enemy makes their move." Kane understood now; he had been so worried about the Young Master that he hadn't thought of taking the initiative.

The cavalry battalion slowly moved out. The Elven scouts continuously reported the enemy’s progress, giving Kane ample time to conceal his troops on the hill, waiting for the Young Master’s signal to deliver a lethal blow.

"Elder, their arrow supply is still insufficient. It must be doubled. We may be fighting the enemy here all day."

"Your Majesty, rest assured. Even the logistics army of the Dragon Rock Empire has been conscripted by Weide. We now have nearly a million men in our logistics force; we will certainly guarantee the consumption of our front-line soldiers."

"That is good, Elder. You have worked hard again."

"Your Majesty, what are you saying? This is our duty. It is the brave warriors of the Empire on the front lines who are truly working hard." Elder Aufo looked at the busy imperial soldiers with deep affection.

"Indeed. They are the ones holding up this Empire. No matter what, the Empire will not fail them."

"Yes."

"How are our Invincible Warships coming along?" Mo Fei shifted the topic.

"They are rushing the work, but such things cannot be hurried recklessly. We now have four battalions, totaling one hundred and sixty ships."

"Good. Send those four battalions out to strike their naval forces. Don't let them think the seas belong to them."

"Understood. I will order them to set sail as soon as I return." Elder Aufo agreed deeply.

"At the very least, do not let them receive supplies by sea. Can it be done?" Mo Fei asked calmly.

"We have never tried, but under Your Majesty’s order, even if it is impossible, they will press forward. For the Empire!"

"Good. For the Empire, tell them to do their best."

...

"Young Master, the enemy has arrived." In fact, without the scouts' report, Mo Fei could see the enemy massing below the defensive line.

"Elder, you should return. Leave the naval battle to you. As for here, it is fine, don't worry." After saying this, Mo Fei turned and walked up to the high ground.

"As soon as the enemy enters the ballistae's range, fire at will," Mo Fei gave the order slowly.

Yesterday, the enemy had probed Mo Fei’s strength, but what their commanders had not expected was that overnight, the occupied line had been reinforced with thirty thousand ballistae. From a distance, they looked like watchtowers, and the enemy commanders did not realize these were deadly engines of war. Once ready, at the command, the enemy surged forward like a tide. However, their morale was far inferior to the Berserkers. Halfway there, their formation became chaotic and slowed down, and no amount of cursing from their commanders could improve it.

Closer, closer—the enemy entered the ballistae's range, but the ballistae did not fire immediately; they were waiting for the front-line commanders to enter the kill zone.

As they drew near, all the ballistae let out a shrieking whistle through the air. The enemy commanders, who had been shouting orders, fell one after another. Deprived of leadership, the enemy vanguard stalled. This played into the hands of the mages; as the enemy commanders entered the ballistae's range, the vanguard had entered the effective damage range of their magic.

In an instant, countless fireballs rained down upon the enemy vanguard. The corpses, tossed high by the shockwaves before crashing down, terrified the fresh enemy reinforcements. Without leadership, the vanguard fell into a state of total disarray, and the first wave of the attack ended in futility.

Watching the enemy retreat, a rare smile appeared on Mo Fei’s face, even though he knew that even more grueling battles still awaited him.