Chapter 409: Chapter 13: Fighting the Many with the Few
On the march.
When the news that Lester and the Shane Territory’s fortress garrison had poured out, rcenary Jora was sowhat surprised.
The ssenger who had escaped from the rear was glum, “The Blasphers have also deployed forces at the third fortress.”
“How many of them are there?”
“Feels like a few hundred people.”
To prevent their supply lines from being cut off, they had placed a total of tens of thousands of troops outside those two fortresses—composed mostly of inexperienced fighters such as fishern and farrs, making them the least combat-effective troops.
But their duty was also simple.
Block the gates of the two fortresses, to prevent the inside garrison from coming out—if the third fortress’s garrison had not shown up.
A rcenary leader said, “I told you we should have surrounded the third fortress too!”
“That would spread our forces even thinner.” The lord from the Hot Sumr Islands, Ister, riding his best warhorse, pointed out, “We have ti, but ti won’t wait for us!”
Another rcenary gritted his teeth and said, “What about the scouts? Soone went straight for your camps, and you knew nothing?”
The escaped ssenger said, “Our scouts have disappeared, my lords, as you all know, our scouts are skilled, and they all ride fast horses, Conquest Knights can’t kill them. Yet they died so silently, I have reason to suspect the assailant is not a Conquest Knight.”
“Humph, we all know the Blasphers keep Witches, those bitches who play with witchcraft aren’t vegetarians, Jora, I think you have a say, the Wildcats have hunted them down before!”
Jora had been the Commander of the Wildcats rcenary Group, but now he was a lone wolf, his expression ugly, he said, “That’s right, my brothers all died at their hands.”
The scene of that night was vivid in his mind, when his rcenary group and the Bounty Hunters joined forces to chase the Witch… But the Witch just walked over, her blood hair wildly dancing… like a crimson Queen from Hell.
Witches be damned! Jora cursed in his heart. All Witches should die! They are not human!
Although all Witches are Transcendents, they do not perform well on the frontlines.
According to the escapee, the third defense force hoisted a banner, embroidered with a Thorny Iron Ring within which there was a Heavy Shield, the unique emblem of the Heavy Equipnt of the River Valley Army.
By the ti the encircling army noticed them, it was already too late.
The River Valley Heavy Equipnt Army forcefully pushed through, cutting down fences, destroying camps, freeing the garrisons of the other two fortresses.
Now, three River Valley Army forces were in hot pursuit behind them, or rather, by the ti the ssenger relayed the situation from the rear camp to here, those River Valley troops might have taken shortcuts and already be ahead of them.
The leaders of the islands and the rcenary Group Commanders discussed for a mont, finally reaching a consensus.
Ister ordered, “Witches are irrelevant to the overall situation. Pass down my command, full speed ahead!”
The forces hitting the road were nurous and ca from various rcenary Groups and different islands, not easy to coordinate under normal circumstances, and a forced march was bound to greatly affect the army’s structure.
So couldn’t keep up with the march’s Speed, so would take advantage of the chaos to leave their units, becoming deserters.
Because not everyone was willing to go head-to-head with the River Valley Army—they had the promise of free looting rights from the Black Castle Lord, so they could simply go rob ordinary villages.
But Jora knew all too well, the smaller rcenary Groups had this choice, as no one really counted on them to be the main force, but the larger and more famous rcenary Groups had no such choice, for the new king Iaoonis was watching them from the Black Castle.
The situation on the battlefield was dynamic, with the southern route already crushed, Lord Makor’s central army was confronting the Blasphers led River Valley Army face to face, and Fertile City’s interior was vulnerable, now was their perfect opportunity.
If the northern army pressed into Fertile City, cutting off the River Valley Army’s retreat, then the Blaspher Roman would have no chance of revival.
They relayed this ssage to everyone, and at first, no one objected, they simply increased their pace.
But before they had marched even ten miles, so had already collapsed on the roadside of Black Iron Avenue, while others disappeared in bunches into the bushes, never to be seen again.
“Lord Ister, the River Valley Army is catching up from behind,” a scout reported, arriving on a fast horse.
Forced marches were a process of culling the weaker allies; only the main forces could keep up. Yet, the River Valley Army was advancing even more swiftly than they were.
Ister gave the order, “Whoever can keep up, keep up; those who cannot, stay behind to slow down the enemy’s rearward advance.”
Jora doubted internally how effective that order could really be—the lesser rcenaries and islander sailors kept falling behind, either resting on the spot or heading off in a different direction. Known for bullying the weak, did these people truly have the courage to face a formidable enemy?
The Black Iron Avenue was clear and in good condition, allowing them to cover a day’s worth of distance in just half a day.
Yet they still encountered an obstacle.
A phalanx from the River Valley forces stood before them like an immovable rock.
A Priest with the army shouted loudly, “Lord Ister, I can see it. That’s the Blasphers’ last force in Fertile City! There’s nothing behind them anymore; if we break through, we can cut off the Blasphers’ retreat.”
…
Ed stood on Black Iron Avenue, silently looking ahead as the enemy forces charging from Black Iron Avenue resembled a colorful swarm of snakes.
More than ten banners representing various powers unfurled before him, bearing emblems of black fish, wolf heads, long spears, and big swords that seed like fierce beasts streaming from the avenue.
“Form up!!” the Squad Leader of the thirteenth brigade roared.
“Ha!” The front row of Long Spear soldiers moved in unison, stepping forward and planting their feet firmly, aligning their spearheads outward.
Ed asked himself if he had been in a crucial pass or a valley path, then with three hundred n he could hold off tens of thousands until the return of Your Highness without any risk of defeat.
But this was not a narrow path; it was Black Iron Avenue, and beyond the avenue stretched open wilderness.
This terrain was extrely unfavorable to them; there were no natural defenses to hold.
Ed knew that the thirteenth brigade was an unbreakable reef, but when waves surge from the vast ocean, how could a single reef stop a boundless tide?
Seeing that the rcenaries had committed all their forces and had no thought of ingesting them completely before advancing, he knew he must find another way to deal with the situation!
“Disperse the small squads, fight independently.”
Outnumbered!
…
With a “slit,” Ister drew his weapon from his waist, his beard bushy and curly hair cascading—declaring in a fearsoly brave cry, “Gentlen! Let’s fight our way through together!!”
No one could contend head-on with the River Valley Army on a battlefield!
This was a bloody lesson the Earth Lords had learned on the Heavenly Pegasus Plain and in all the previous battles!
The Conquest Knights couldn’t do it. Neither could this Joint Army made up of rcenaries and islander sailors.
No one contemplated a one-on-one Knight’s duel with the River Valley Army!
Before them, the River Valley Army had rely three hundred n, whereas they had thousands, an uncountable number, all elite fighters from various rcenary Groups and skilled sailors from the Hot Sumr Islands.
The central army’s Nobles were the most nurous and housed the highest count of Conquest Knights, hence having the stronghold in strength.
But the overall quality of the army on the upper route was second only to that of the central forces.
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