Chapter 12: First Battle
The border region between Shayan and Milu, this was the central battlefield, a stretch of land that separated the two kingdoms of Shayan and Milu.
Upon arriving at the central battlefield, Su Xiao ordered Baha to scout from above, searching for small to medium-sized enemy forces. Regardless, the first battle had to be won, and he couldn't just pick a weak opponent to crush.
As they marched deeper into the central battlefield, Baha located an enemy force. This force numbered around 30,000 and had just engaged with their own troops.
Su Xiao currently had only 20,000 soldiers, a mix of infantry and light shield-bearers. He planned to develop only light shield-bearers because, without the support of Uuno and Karola, developing other troop types would be extremely difficult—especially beast cavalry, which wasn't a problem solvable by throwing gold coins at it.
"Sir, enemy forces spotted ahead. I suggest we take a detour this way."
Oss spread a map on the table and traced a semicircle on it with his finger.
"Detour? And then head straight for Segona City?"
"Well..."
Oss was momentarily speechless. He knew about the plan to capture Segona City in seven days, but he had chosen to ignore it. His thinking was simple: survive the journey to the front lines, then survive the return to Shadu.
"Prepare for battle. We'll engage them head-on."
"Yes, sir."
Oss didn't dare say more. He hurried off to deploy the soldiers.
Hmm~
A long, drawn-out horn call echoed. Hearing it, the marching soldiers tensed up, quickly dispersing and forming an anti-charge formation.
As the horn call faded, a dull thud came from the distance. A massive fireball flew over, trailing a tail of flame.
This large fireball was some kind of incendiary. After arcing through the air in a parabola, it split apart into hundreds of basin-sized smaller fireballs.
Boom, boom, boom...
Each fireball exploded upon landing, unleashing orange-yellow flames. Upon contact with the air, these flames triggered an extremely intense deflagration, and the scattered sparks were highly adhesive.
Mud flew, sparks scattered, and before they even saw the enemy, dozens of their own soldiers had been blown to pieces.
"Ahhh!"
A soldier covered in flames screamed in agony as he ran wildly. A two-handed greatsword swung down, severing his head.
A jet of flame shot up, then exploded, forming a ram's head with a broken horn.
Seeing this ram's head, Vice-Commander Oss's pupils contracted. They had hit the jackpot this time.
Forgetting his dignity as vice-commander, Oss sprinted to the metal war chariot, slammed the door open with a bang, only to find Kaiser inside.
A whistling sound came from ahead again. The soldiers looked up to see a dozen large fireballs flying toward them. They recognized these—they were the Milu Dwarves' Flame-Throwing Projectors. Some had even used them before, but without the formula for 'Black Oil,' they had to abandon the cumbersome projectors once the oil ran out.
Clang.
A sharp slash rang out. Three azure-blue blade arcs slanted up toward the sky. An instant later, explosions thundered continuously overhead.
Flames burst in midair, raining down like a fiery downpour onto the sandy ground ahead. The already scorched earth ignited into a large patch of fire.
At some point, Su Xiao had already moved to the front of the formation, staring at the vast sea of flames a dozen meters away.
"Follow me and charge."
"..."
The soldiers who saw Su Xiao were utterly stunned. They had never seen a Grand Commander stand at the very front after a battle began.
"Charge!"
Roars erupted one after another. All the soldiers surged forward, not even knowing where their courage came from. This was the benefit of high morale.
A wailing sound came from above again. The Milu army was no pushover. Years of war with Shayan had made their soldiers highly skilled, and their war machines had been improved generation after generation.
As for war machines, Su Xiao had none. It wasn't that he didn't want them; it was simply impossible to acquire any. However, if he could win this battle, things would start to improve.
His soldiers charged forward with roars. Meanwhile, a kilometer away, rows of Milu Dwarves had already formed ranks. The front line held large shields, the second line wielded long spears. The shields formed a wall, and spears jutted out from the gaps, pointing forward.
Thud, thud, thud...
The rhythmic footsteps made the ground tremble. Beneath their helmets, the Milu Dwarves' eyes showed a look of indifference to life and death—if you mess with them, they'll fight back.
Behind the dwarf army, on a wooden war chariot, a dwarf clad in finely forged armor and a horned helmet stared ahead. His wine-red beard was braided into several strands. Though he was only 1.45 meters tall, his aura was that of a 5.41-meter giant.
"What are these?"
The dwarf officer frowned, a hint of disbelief in his eyes.
"Lord Redbeard, this is a ragtag force. Probably a suicide squad sent by Niboso to delay us."
The adjutant beside him looked relaxed. Even if twice as many such ragtag troops came, they wouldn't be able to stop them.
"Look over there."
The dwarf called Redbeard pointed ahead. His adjutant looked in that direction, blinked, and wondered if his eyes were deceiving him.
"Is that... the Grand Commander of Shayan?"
The adjutant's voice cracked. No wonder he was shocked—what he saw was simply unbelievable. A Grand Commander, leading 20,000 ragtag soldiers here? No mistake, the black velvet cloak was the symbol of a Grand Commander.
Redbeard's frown deepened. He had led troops on the central battlefield for years. This 'ragtag force' was too strange. They had no formation at all, yet their soldiers were charging at incredible speed.
The dwarf army advanced steadily, their shield wall forming an unbroken line, making them like a torrent of steel.
On the other side, Su Xiao's troops surged forward in a chaotic mass. Forget formation—some soldiers' boots were almost falling off.
Just as the two armies were about to collide, the dwarf soldiers roared in unison.
"Hah!"
The front-line dwarves thrust their long spears at tricky angles, making it impossible for the charging soldiers to dodge.
Pfft, pfft, pfft...
Metal pierced flesh. The bottom edges of the shields slammed into the ground with a loud thud—the signal to withdraw spears.
The nearly three-meter-long spears were pulled back, and a large swath of Su Xiao's soldiers fell.
Bang! A Shayan squad leader kicked a shield. Behind it, the dwarf holding the shield widened his eyes as a tremendous force came through his hands, making him stagger backward.
A flurry of kicks followed. The once-solid shield wall became crooked and unstable. The shield-bearing dwarves were bewildered—when had they ever been so humiliated, except when facing cavalry?
Boom!
A second shield wall was raised, but it was too late. Su Xiao's soldiers stepped onto the tilted shields of the first line and leaped directly into the dwarf formation.
The sounds of hacking and slashing merged into one. In an instant, dwarves fell screaming in droves. Amid the chaotic melee, a Shayan centurion cut down several dwarves in a row. The armor that had once been tough to cut through now felt surprisingly easy to break.
The centurion's eyes showed clear confusion. He couldn't understand—when had the Milu Dwarves become so weak? He could take on five, no, ten of them.