In legends, the weather would often be used to foretell the upcoming plot.
A sunny day would be a great day for heroes to set out on their journeys. An ancient castle covered in dark clouds would become a symbol of a conspiracy. That would be the climax of the plot, and there would always be a few thunderbolts on a sunny day, even if there were no clouds in the sky.
Reality, however, wasn't so dramatic. Carnage would often occur under the blazing sun, because that was the time when the field of view would be at its best. The true conspirators would often live in beautiful manors, and there wouldn't be much chaos even when the weather was at its worst. Everyone would stay in their own warm homes.
But sometimes, ordinary people didn't have much of a choice in certain situations. For us, who were full of ambition, we met with the worst of luck.
There would always be a lot of rain at the intersection of spring and summer. Bardi's rainy season was about to begin, and we were heading to the place where Dragon Knight Emperor Halent had made his fortune — the Rainy Night Fortress.
Dark clouds shrouded the sky above us. The sudden gale and torrential rain not only obstructed our advance, but also obscured our vision.
It had already been a week since we left the Bardi capital. The "allied army", with Bardi as the main force, had grandly begun their second undead subjugation campaign.
Less than two days into the journey, the weather became terrible. The torrential rain greatly slowed down the army's progress. The mages were unable to detect any mysterious power from the dark clouds. In that case, it could only be that their luck was terrible.
Normally, Knight and nobles didn't need to care about their image, but on the battlefield, military orders were absolute. Their lives were quite uncomfortable.
The golden-armored warriors at the very front of the army were usually quite impressive. Under the sunlight, they looked just like Gold Warriors.
Their weapons and armor were all enchanted with adamantite. Not only were their weapons and armor coated with adamantite, they were also worth far more than the same amount of gold, allowing them to ignore ordinary arrows.
Their standard weapons were a heavy spear that was nearly two meters long and a tower shield that was also coated with expensive adamantite. They were also enchanted by a master level mage.
The spear had the glow of "sharpness" and "armor penetration." The thick tower shield had the glow of "magic resistance" and "sturdiness." The tip of the spear was covered in spiral-shaped magical runes, and the cross lion emblem on the tower shield was a gift from the royal family. Just this spear and shield alone would be enough for an ordinary mercenary to work hard for their entire life.
The ugly dragon helmet only revealed its eyes. The adamantine plate armor made it even sturdier than the mountain giant's armor. The armor was a classic example of wind armor. The only decorations on the armor were dragon scales that could be used as horns and spikes.
The Imperial Dragon Cavalry was the name of this troop. Although it was very familiar, it had a long history. It had been called that way back then, and it had been passed down.
Even though they had dragonriders in their name, don't misunderstand. They were pure infantry. The weight of their armor was something not even a tamed young earth dragon could endure.
The fact that these warriors were able to wield such equipment could only mean that these warriors were exceedingly powerful. Their average combat level was sufficiently high. Ten years ago, this was a terrifying group of Gold-pinnacle existences.
One extra job explains their uniqueness - they are part of the Royal Knight Regiment.
Every country's royal Knight squadrons had always been the signature and strongest military branch of any country. These royal Knight squadrons were tightly controlled by the royalty. They served as bodyguards as well as the sharpest blade against rebels and foreign enemies. Bardi's strongest military branch was obviously the Dragon Knight squadrons. However, the royal dragon Knight squadrons of 13,000 wouldn't even fear a Dragon Knight squadron at all.
Why was it one of the strongest? Unlike the Ottoman Empire, which was still in the process of creating its own new Royal Knight squadrons, and unlike the Mist Kingdom, which used a mix of random troops to act as the face of the royal family, the ancient Bardi Empire had plenty of resources. The "Dragon King's Shield", "Bardi's Wings", and "Milan's Whip", the three major Royal Knight squadrons, were at the peak of the human world in terms of history, power, and even individual power.
Yep, that was only in the human world. After all, the Bardi Empire had the Dragon Knight squadrons. It would be unfair to compare dragons' average combat strength to mortals.
However, the Dragon Knight squadrons were the strongest of the three major Royal Knight squadrons, the "Bardi's Wings". Being able to stand on equal footing with the Dragon Knight squadrons, and the fact that the prideful dragons didn't provoke the Dragon Knight squadrons out of displeasure was already proof of the other two Royal Knight squadrons' confidence.
Humans' advantage lay in the balance between quantity and quality … in other words, the so-called mass production of troops.
Elven archers and mages usually had vastly different abilities. With enough time, they all had their own specialties. Being able to fight on their own was their specialty.
Meanwhile, human warriors would only have several years or even several decades of training. However, as long as they followed the path that had been repeatedly proven by their predecessors, their growth rate would be several times faster than that of other species. Although human warriors would be "free-range" compared to other species' warriors, their abilities would be rather simple. However, with special equipment that made up for their weaknesses and increased their advantages, they wouldn't be much weaker than other species' hundred-year-old warriors on the battlefield.
At the very least, even the dwarves' most elite hundred-year-old braided warriors wouldn't dare to charge head-on against the Bardi Empire's Royal Dragon Knights.
The Royal Dragon Knights had excellent defense and attack power, as well as elite warriors that were one in ten thousand. This made these sluggish heavy tanks invulnerable and bloodthirsty meat grinders the moment they got close to them.
Custom-Made martial techniques and cultivation paths, custom-made, superior equipment, and the tactics that were exchanged for experience and lessons were the reason why humans were able to mass-produce powerful troops.
Perhaps using the term "mass production" to describe this might be belittling, but using the term "inheritance" would be the same.
The refinement and purification of armor technology, the enchantment of magic alchemy, and the accumulation of countless processes, technologies, and industries, resulted in the Royal Armor, the Silver Horse Armor, and the Windchaser javelins.
The inheritance of martial arts and combat tactics was even more direct and obvious. Teachers would teach their disciples, and it would be passed down from generation to generation. The seniors of the Knight Squadron would record their combat experience, their proud martial arts, and their understanding of using weapons. Those that were worth promoting would be widely spread. Then, the younger generation would use the seniors' "ultimate skills" as a foundation to learn and create new "ultimate skills".
As it was passed down from generation to generation, this troop type, the Knight Squadron, would naturally become stronger and stronger.
The longer a Knight Squadron's history was, the more powerful the martial arts passed down would be. It wasn't that they had some ancient secret technique or ultimate skill. Rather, it was that through the tempering of time and actual combat, the originally crude martial arts would become skillful and abnormally practical. All sorts of auxiliary cultivation methods would be figured out by others, and the Bardi Empire Squadron would walk the pure path of kings.
Techniques that were figured out by oneself in the deep mountains and forests might seem perfect and extravagant, but in actual combat, they would be far inferior to simple combat techniques that had been thoroughly tempered.
This was what inheritance was. Learning from generation to generation, and the younger generation would step on the shoulders of the older generation to continue advancing. Naturally, they would become stronger and stronger.
It was said that the golden Royal Dragon Knight Squadron's history was as long as the Bardi Empire's. Every centurion would have the title of a Knight that could be passed down. If a centurion died in the line of duty, their children could choose to inherit the centurion's noble title and position. It was possible for one set of armor to be passed down for seven or eight generations, having been repaired and improved by countless grandmasters.
Young members of the Royal Dragon Knight Squadron would know what type of person they wanted to become. They would learn how to use a spear at three years old and learn how to use a shield at five years old. Only after many rounds of selection would they be qualified to become a Golden Dragon Knight.
A spear and a shield, one for offense and one for defense. It was simple, but it was a demonstration of true martial arts.
Out of all the high-level troops, the Royal Dragon Knight Squadron had the least and simplest equipment. However, as the "Dragon King's Shield" that protected the entire Bardi Empire and the Milan royalty, the Royal Dragon Knight Squadron was one of the top ten human knight squadrons in both history and power.
In this generation, the Royal Dragon Knight Squadron even faintly showed signs of challenging the Bardi Empire's number one Knight squadron, the "Bardi Wings". Of course, this was the Royal Dragon Knight Squadron from ten years ago.
Out of the Bardi Empire's three main royal Knight Squadrons, the "Bardi Wings" of the Dragon Knight Squadron was only a part of the royal guards in name. The "Milan Whip", which consisted entirely of cavalry, had been assigned to defend the borders and invade the Bardi Empire. It was impossible for the Royal Dragon King's Shield Squadron to be sent out to defend the capital. They were the emperor's most trustworthy trump card.
This time, it could be said that Halent was using everything he had.
Out of a total of 13,000 soldiers, 11,000 had come to the Bardi Empire. Only the most basic veteran instructors and trainees from the past three months were left behind. Even new soldiers who had completed their first year of training had come. It could be said that the Bardi Empire had come in full force.
The grand formation of heavy infantry walked on the road without making a single sound. There was only the sound of heavy footsteps.
"Fight to the death! Don't retreat!"
This was their battle declaration, as well as their usual style of fighting.
For them, only by retreating would their battle formation fall into chaos and expose their weaknesses. As long as they didn't retreat and their formation didn't fall into chaos, even if they died, their comrades would take revenge for them.
Their uniform footsteps combined into a single, frightening sound that was like a group of titans silently advancing. But at this moment, due to their past training and strict military discipline, the Royal Dragon Knights appeared to be in the most pitiful state.
The sudden torrential rain made it so dark that one couldn't even see their own fingers. However, the experienced Royal Dragon Knights didn't lose their composure at all. They continued to do their best to maintain their formation in the rain, one after another without falling into chaos.
Their extraordinarily heavy armor also made them extraordinarily heavy. Every step they took in the mud was quite uncomfortable. If they could barely endure this, the next one would be even more unbearable.
The rain was far too heavy. Water entered the armor through all the cracks and air holes, filling up the armor, and then flowed out through the cracks … Yep, it was just like a sprinkler that sprayed water everywhere they walked.
"I really want to dub their voices. What should I do? For example, the classic song 'A Good Life Is Blessed' every morning. "
"Endure it. Otherwise, you'll be dragged out and beaten to death."
I didn't know what they were feeling right now, but I felt quite uncomfortable wearing overalls that were filled with water. My entire body was filled with metal cans, filled with water, and I still had to carry the metal cans while walking in formation. Even if I swayed, I couldn't fall over. Just thinking about it made me feel a chill.
"… Harloys, do you think that if I toss a piece of soap — no, a banana slice in front of their formation, and one or two of them fall over, would they be able to cause a large group of them to fall over like bowling pins?"
"It's useless. Their boots are all enchanted with acceleration and anti-skid … But with how heavy the rain is, it's hard to say. You can really try it. If you fall over now, you probably won't be able to get up again. Dying to a banana peel would be far too amusing. Oh, right, you can ask Jonny, the 'Omnipotent Crate', for a day off. His favorite spell is to modify the original Grease spell into a malicious, AoE Banana Peel spell. "
Although I knew that mages would be more bored than anyone else when they had nothing better to do, Jonny was truly free to the point of using his free time to create such a spell.
Unlike the Bardi army, which cared more about their reputation than anything else, I was currently with the Mage Country's mages. I was drinking coffee as I watched the army march in the rain.
In order to preserve the mages' unreliable Stamina stat, it was an unspoken rule of the battlefield. No matter where the mages went, as long as the conditions weren't too harsh, they would be treated better than horse carriages.
The rain was so heavy that it was difficult to see anything clearly. The mages unhesitatingly stopped and sat in their horse carriages to watch the rest of the army march.
Drinking tea, drinking coffee, and chatting was already quite good. Some mages directly started playing Gwent cards, while others started experimenting with seemingly powerful spells. Some archmages who were skilled in spatial magic directly opened up teleportation portals and escaped. There were also some who summoned beasts and started performing with beasts … Although their performances were quite normal, I felt like their eyes were rather familiar. Perhaps they were another Beifeng worshipper. Perhaps we should approach them from behind, drag them out, and beat them to death.
Military honor? Military rules? Mages had long since gotten used to ignoring such rules.
If this army only consisted of the Bardi Empire, or if it was an alliance between the Bardi Empire and the Mage Country, the Bardi royal dragon knights wouldn't have been so stubborn.
Everyone knew that getting soaked in the rain and exercising so much would likely result in catching a cold. But sometimes, military honor was all that mattered, especially when it came to so-called allies who were secretly competing with each other.
Not far away from the golden heavy infantry, there was also a group of soldiers slowly advancing.
It was as if they were naturally competing with the golden dragon knights. The golden dragon knights were golden heavy infantry, while the soldiers were silver light cavalry. The royal dragon knights walked the path of simplicity, but the light cavalry's equipment was ridiculously complex.
"The Ottoman Empire is so rich. The White Wolf Guards have all changed their equipment again."
The White Wolf Guards were the Ottoman Empire's royal Knight. They were also the Ottoman Empire's trump card to surpass the other mega empires.
Back in the day, the White Wolf Guards's armor was made of a Misilor mithril alloy. Although it was rather light, it was more powerful than ordinary heavy armor. Not only that, it was also highly resistant to magic. Back in the day, not to mention the blueprint for light cavalry armor, even the recipe for the alloy itself was a top-secret secret of the Ottoman Empire.
"You still managed to scam me."
"Cough, cough, how can this be called scam? This is just a military exchange. How can a normal military exchange be called scam?"
Back in the day, the White Wolf Guards's Misilor Explosive Dragon Spears, Explosive Javelins, and Explosive Swords were all incredibly high quality alchemy equipment. Just from their names, it was obvious that these weapons were explosive. A single White Wolf Knight was like a mobile gunpowder warehouse. They were the crystallization of the Ottoman Empire's highly advanced alchemy technology.
If the royal dragon knights were legendary warriors that walked out of ancient epics, then the White Wolf Guards were a new troop type that kept up with the times.
Compared to back in the day, their equipment was greatly upgraded. Only a few of the most advanced Knight Guards were equipped with long Explosive Dragon Spears. Their javelins and longswords were completely different. At the very least, judging from the obvious Olivia's Magic Box, I could see traces of magical engineering.
Every single one of the White Wolf Guards was carrying at least three backpacks. Small bags had obvious magical wavelengths, which were probably new toys.
However, the greatest change was in their mounts.
The originally powerful mutant warhorses were directly abandoned. All the Knight Guards were now equipped with Iron Horses. Although the White Wolf Guards were a troop type that relied on alchemy equipment and potions to fight, and didn't rely on their mounts to begin with, it was truly unexpected for them to be so resolute in abandoning their regular mounts.
While the royal dragon knights' heavy footsteps were silent, the White Wolf Guards's engines never stopped revving.
If that was all, I wouldn't have been so astonished.
Between the Iron Horses, there was also an Iron Tortoise that was slowly moving forward. This Iron Tortoise was approximately three meters long and had five wheels of various sizes. Its thick iron armor protected the fragile heavy cannons and crossbowmen. Although the Iron Tortoise's speed was rather slow, I found at least four cannon ports on the Iron Tortoise.
"This must be a tank!"
Although it was rather crude, I could guarantee that this design concept was no different from the very first tanks. Both Iron Horses were equipped with an iron armor so that people could safely attack from within.
I wasn't so bored as to give any suggestions or ideas. No matter which world the White Wolf Guards were from, their intelligence couldn't be underestimated. With the Iron Horses' engine technology, others would naturally be able to develop their own mechanical tanks. Not to mention, tanks in this generation hadn't been eliminated from history to begin with.
The Ottoman Empire's fearsome shipbuilding and alchemy industries were more than capable of turning any ridiculous idea into reality.
There were many of these "Iron Tortoise Tanks". Every ten Knight Guards was equipped with one Iron Tortoise Tank. Apart from that, there were also large objects that were being dragged by horse carriages. I couldn't see what they were because they were covered in oiled paper, but I guessed that they were also powerful weapons.
The Bardi Empire had inherited a long history and was working hard to innovate. The Ottoman Empire had started off as a nouveau riche, but was able to take advantage of the industrial revolution to rapidly develop. Both sides had long since been competing against each other. Now that the Bardi Empire's Royal Knight Squadrons, which represented all sorts of honors, met, they naturally began to compete against each other.
Even modern machines would likely have problems in bad weather, not to mention the Ottoman Empire's half-finished products. On the way here, I personally saw three Iron Tortoise Tanks start to emit smoke and die. Some directly broke down, and there were even more Iron Tortoises that couldn't get up. In the end, many Iron Tortoises were dragged away by multiple White Wolf Knight Squadrons.
Neither side said anything, but everyone knew that they were already competing against each other. It was a competition to see who would be the first to lose their patience and shout for them to stop.
"Soldiers …"
I could only helplessly shake my head. It wouldn't be easy for me to deal with them as a guest soldier. Since I was still quite far away from the battlefield, I might as well let them have their fun.
"Honestly, they're already so old, yet they're still fighting like children. If the undead come at this time, won't things get out of hand … Alright, Harloys, put down that eggplant, and I'll shut up."
"Enemy ambush!"
A piercing scream shattered the silence. I silently took the eggplant from Harloys and stuffed it into my mouth …
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