Chapter 164: Outbreak of the Great War 4

The enemy commander, having regained his composure after rallying the shattered remnants of his forces, issued a series of orders, and the great army slowly advanced toward the battlefield once again.

In yesterday's battle, the cavalry of the Death Empire had inflicted just over sixty thousand casualties upon the enemy, and the enemy's losses during the siege had not exceeded fifty thousand. For the main body of the enemy army, this was merely a flesh wound rather than a blow to their vital sinews. They remained fundamentally the same formidable host. At the sharp command of the frontline officers pressing the flanks, the vast army closed in with rigid, orderly formations.

"Fortunately, they also took the entire night to regroup and adjust; otherwise, we truly would have had to leap into the sea and flee for our lives," Mo Fei said with a smile. Yesterday, while the enemy was gathering their defeated troops and reorganizing, more than six hundred thousand of the one million soldiers waiting in the imperial capital had already crossed over. The remaining reinforcements continued to pour through the colossal spatial magic array in an endless stream.

A mere two of the sixty Bear-clan mages were sufficient to activate this massive spatial teleportation array. When they witnessed Mo Fei activating it single-handedly, their desire to remain by his side grew even stronger.

"Udos, return to the city and pull out every single one of your mages, then take command within the city. You need only focus on coordinating our strikes from there," Mo Fei said to Udos as he watched a newly arrived batch of the imperial allied forces disembark at the pier.

"I can transfer the mages immediately, but Big Brother, there are no natural defenses here for you to hold. Will that really work?" Udos looked at the vast, open expanse of the pier, knowing full well that if he were the one defending this place, he would likely be driven straight into the sea.

"Why should I hold it?" Mo Fei laughed. "The enemy certainly knows nothing of the hundred thousand elite troops I have hidden here. But they do know about the million-strong army you have in the city, so they are bound to divide a large portion of their forces to surround you. That means the number of men coming toward my position won't be overwhelming. I estimate they will send at most one to two million troops. A million poses no threat to me; as for two million—under the bombardment of these seven thousand mages, their numbers will soon match our own. In any case, I am certain to devour these two million enemy soldiers."

"Big Brother, you mean they will divide their forces to besiege the city and then send a massive army to attack your position first?" Udos believed the likelihood of them launching simultaneous attacks was extremely high.

"After yesterday's battle, they realize that unless they deal with this cavalry force, the ultimate outcome remains entirely unpredictable. Besides, as you can see, this place offers no natural defenses; once a great army presses in, avoiding a leap into the sea would be difficult. Therefore, I can say with certainty that their encirclement of your city is merely intended to prevent you from coming out to rescue our cavalry. Once they finish off our horsemen, they will turn their attention to you."

Through such prolonged clashes with this cavalry force, the enemy commander had come to understand just how terrifying the combat power of these black-armored horsemen truly was. Practically every operation they planned had been thoroughly disrupted by this cavalry unit. It was hardly surprising that the enemy had dispatched ten or even twenty times their number in a desperate attempt to annihilate this cavalry force or drive them into the sea.

"Hurry back to the city now and pull out the mages. The enemy will need some time to arrive, and coupled with the time it takes to set up the siege, they shouldn't reach my position until the afternoon. During this interval, the moment you see our cavalry begin launching attacks toward your side, throw everything you have into the assault. Cast aside any thoughts of preserving your strength. If we annihilate this massive army group of theirs, I can hand over all subsequent battles entirely to you—they shouldn't have many troops left by then."

"Rest assured, Big Brother. The moment the cavalry appears and throws the outer encirclement into disarray, I will immediately lead the main army out. This time, we must utterly destroy their army here. As you said, if they fail now, their available fighting men will be even fewer, and by then I can rotate in the rest of the soldiers currently left on the island."

"Go on, and take good care of yourself."

"Understood, Big Brother."

Watching Udos and his guards vanish in a cloud of dust, Mo Fei turned to Kane and said, "Have the allied forces pick up the pace. We don't have much time left."

"Yes, My Lord." Kane acknowledged the order and hurried over to the magic array, urging the troops to pass through more rapidly.

***

By midday, the assembly of the imperial allied forces was finally complete. However, the enemy troops that had already arrived did not immediately initiate the siege; instead, they began setting up camp. Seeing thick plumes of smoke rising from behind the dense masses of the enemy army, Mo Fei knew that after marching for so long, the enemy forces were now stopping to eat. Afterward would come the true decisive battle.

Just as the two mages presiding over the activation of the array were about to close the portal, a squad of dwarf warriors surged out from within. "Wait, wait! There's more behind us!" With that, they headed straight toward the assembled army.

Even Mo Fei was puzzled. Had the forces assembled not consisted solely of the imperial allied forces? Why were dwarf warriors arriving now as well?

Before Mo Fei could even ask, ballistae were being wheeled out of the teleportation array, pushed along enthusiastically by two dwarves and two berserkers marching in the rear.

"My Lord!" The berserker leading the foremost ballista walked up to Mo Fei. "Elder Ovu said that My Lord requires reinforcements, so he sent us. Also, Her Majesty the Queen says that Princess Erin—oh, no, Her Imperial Consort Erin's thirty thousand elven guards will be arriving shortly."

Upon hearing this, Mo Fei was momentarily stunned. There were no structured elven infantry units within the imperial allied forces—only a handful of scout warriors undergoing training. Mo Fei had previously seen that the elven race required time to recuperate and rebuild their population, so he had not incorporated them into the imperial allied forces. The other empires had raised no objections; after all, the Death Empire and the Elven Kingdom were essentially two entities intertwined as one. Moreover, the elite scouts dispatched by the Elven Kingdom were more than sufficient for their needs.

Over the course of the fighting, the pressure borne by these elite scouts had been greater than that of any combat unit, making them the primary target of enemy attacks. Because such dangerous tasks were undertaken by the elves, the burdens they bore were by no means lighter than those of any other fighting force.

Hearing that an additional thirty thousand elven warriors were on their way, Mo Fei realized that the Elven Queen, deeply concerned for the safety of both him and Erin, had dispatched the elite archers from the Elven Capital.

With this batch of ballistae and thirty thousand elven archers added to their ranks, Mo Fei felt even more confident in his ability to devour the one or two million enemy soldiers.

"Everyone, come over here." Mo Fei said no more, simply calling over Kane and the other commanders of the berserker allied forces. "Let us carefully discuss how we can best swallow them whole."

"Kane, lead the cavalry and hold the frontline. You are not permitted to charge or attack without my orders. You may have the warriors use the giant ballistae to support the mages' bombardment. I will position these seven thousand mages directly behind you, while the imperial allied forces will flank both sides. The elven archers will follow the main army's attack, trailing slightly behind to pick off surviving enemies and prevent our warriors from becoming bogged down in enemy encirclements. This will minimize our casualties. Furthermore, issue an order that no warrior is permitted to fight alone; they must fully leverage the advantages of our small-unit tactics to inflict maximum casualties upon the enemy. This is the true decisive battle. If we win this time, all subsequent combat operations will be handed over entirely to the Bear clan. If we fail... look behind us!" Mo Fei pointed toward the open sea. "That will be our final resting place."

The rested enemy forces now appeared before them once again...

The expressions of Kane and the others instantly turned grim. It was no longer just about them; the Young Lord was here, and Erin was here too. No matter what happened, Kane and his men were determined not to let anything befall the Young Lord and Erin.

"My Lord..."

"I am not leaving. I will stay here and keep everyone company. If we must leap into the sea, we will do it together," Mo Fei interrupted before Kane could finish his sentence.

Things had reached this point, and Kane said nothing more. Returning to the vanguard of the cavalry formation, Kane shouted in a booming voice, "Brothers, our Young Lord and our Imperial Consort are right behind us. If we fail, it will cost the lives of both the Young Lord and Imperial Consort Erin. Brothers, what must we do?"

With those final words, Kane roared at the top of his lungs.

"Slayer them all! Kill! Kill! Slaughter them to the last!" One hundred thousand berserkers roared in a frenzy.

In an instant, when the imperial allied forces learned of Mo Fei's decision, they joined their voices with the battle cry of the one hundred thousand berserker cavalrymen.

The sound reached the enemy commander directing this assault, and his heart turned ice-cold. "Weren't they supposed to be just a little over one hundred thousand cavalry? Judging by that roar, there must be over a million of them! Heavens, right here in our own territory, how could our intelligence be so utterly abysmal?"

Muttering to himself, the enemy commander hurriedly rushed to the advancing frontline. Raising his gaze, he saw a vast, sea-like expanse of black armor stretching out before him—truly an army numbering well over a million.

Fortunately, his side had dispatched two and a half million troops this time. Their original mission had been to annihilate the meager hundred thousand cavalry before turning to attack the rear of Nabo City. Now, however, it was clear this had escalated into a decisive battle, and the objective of striking the rear of Nabo City was plainly impossible to fulfill.

"Quickly, report the situation here to the supreme commander! Tell them an anomaly has occurred—the enemy has amassed an army of one million guarding the pier. Our forces are facing a bitter struggle and cannot provide support for the siege. Go, report it immediately!"

A communications soldier turned and sprinted toward the rear.

Retreat was no longer an option; they had no choice but to charge forward and fight. Fortunately, their side still outnumbered the enemy by more than double, leaving a very real chance of driving the entire hostile force straight into the sea.

With that thought, the enemy commander in charge of this sector resolutely issued the attack order. Instantly, a surging wave of enemy soldiers poured directly into the effective range of the mages' spells.

This time, the sixty Bear-clan mages did not launch the opening strike right away; they were waiting for even more of the enemy to enter their killing zone.

They drew closer...

Cascades of fireballs plummeted from the sky, and a brilliant, dazzling array of light erupted before the eyes of soldiers on both sides. The battle had begun...