A soul-stirring battle howl erupted from the throats of more than two thousand Eckstedtian men as they pounced towards the Constellatiates, who resembled a lone boat.
His first large-scale battle experience came in a situation that Thales did not expect.
The sword-and-shield soldiers of the Fury Guards were in the first row. They held their longswords in their hands and pressed them against their comrades beside them.
Arracca had long since dismounted from his steed. He raised a terrifyingly large sword that was almost as tall as a person with both hands. His eyes burned with a fiery fighting spirit as he strode forward.
The soldiers in front of him consciously gave way to their commander, making a space that was three people wide.
"The first round of attack!" Arracca looked around and shouted, "Hold the line of defense!"
The enemies surged forward like a tidal wave, getting closer and closer.
At the center of the battle formation, Wya immediately pulled Thales down from his conspicuous warhorse and surrounded him tightly in a circle formed by six soldiers. Then, he joined Aida, Putray and Ralf in guarding the four corners of this small battle formation.
"Go and help the front row!" Thales urged, "If they collapse, all of you will not be able to protect me!"
However, his heart was in a mess. He could not understand how he could face such a situation on a diplomatic mission to Eckstedt.
'What happened?'
Wya and Ralf looked at each other. With Putray's nod, they moved towards the front row.
Aida exhaled and whispered to Putray, "This is a real battlefield. Even supreme class elites have to be extremely careful.
"And such a great disparity in battle …
"If you have any way to avoid battle, quickly say it!
"If not, quickly think of it!"
Thales gritted his teeth and looked at the enemies charging towards him from all directions. There were six large groups of Eckstedtians.
'The number of enemies … is too many.
'We are surrounded.
'We don't have enough military strength at all … No, it should be said that we are not prepared for battle at all!
'What should I do?
'Shout out my identity?'
But the other side did not seem to care at all.
Faced with the impending battle, many of the Constellatiate soldiers exhaled a breath of hot air. They gripped their weapons tightly and held their shields properly. They looked at the aggressive Eckstedtians with solemn gazes.
The first Eckstedtian infantryman roared furiously and charged towards them.
* Bang! *
His shield collided with the shield of a sword-and-shield soldier.
With the help of his comrades on both sides and behind him, Constellation's sword-and-shield soldier gritted his teeth and withstood the tall opponent's charge. He also swung his sword to block the opponent's axe that came swinging down from the air.
However, more Eckstedtians surged towards Constellation's diplomat group.
"Bang! Bang! Bang! "
The Eckstedt soldiers roared furiously and continuously crashed into the Constellatiates' battle formation from all directions!
"Kill!"
"Hold them off!"
Amidst the roars of the soldiers from both sides, the sounds of shields colliding and weapons clashing interweaved, like countless thunderclaps exploding on the flat ground.
Genard stood in the first row with two soldiers of the Fury Guard. He pushed his shoulder against the shield with all his might.
A mace that was swung over smashed onto the shield. Genard's entire body trembled, and he almost fell backwards.
His companions behind him supported his back and helped him stabilize his body.
With a distorted face, Genard withstood the impact with all his might.
Damn it, he thought bitterly.
'These Eckstedtians … Their strength and physique are much stronger than those rebels from the southwest.'
Genard dodged a sword that was aimed at his forearm and asked his comrade to deal with him. The veteran pushed away the mace and kicked its owner's knee, causing him to stagger. Then, he stabbed his sword into his defenseless neck.
Blood gushed out, and the opponent fell on his back while stammering.
'Fortunately … their movements are not very agile.'
Just as he thought of this, a longspear brushed past his ear and pierced through the abdomen of a soldier on Genard's left. The latter fell limply as he howled in pain.
Genard roared furiously and replaced the position of the dead soldier. He broke the longspear and blocked a blade that wanted to charge in through the gap. A soldier behind him quickly filled in the empty spot Genard had left behind.
Such scenes appeared at various places in the front row.
Enraged roars and pained wails were still mixed with the sounds of metal clashing and weapons clashing. Eckstedt's light infantrymen pounced forward again and again as if they did not care about their lives. They were blocked or even killed by the Fury Guards and the diplomat group, leaving behind corpses. However, people from Constellation continued to fall, and blood gradually dyed the snow red.
However, the veteran of the Fury Guards at the front row still relied on his rich experience and mature skills to maintain the line of defense and prevent it from being broken.
Thales watched everything around him in fear. This was a battlefield where thousands of people intertwined with each other.
A brutal and terrifying slaughter.
Blood that splattered everywhere.
Roars that risked their lives.
Corpses that kept increasing in number.
The battlefield before him was undoubtedly more shocking than the battle with the Sacred Blood Army.
Commander Arracca was also at the front row. With an unpleasant expression, he guarded the gap between the three of them alone.
He did not display any fancy and exquisite supreme class combat skills. Instead, he repeated simple and unadorned battle moves.
However, no one could gain an advantage over him.
During the first round of attacks, Arracca's two-handed greatsword made a deathly howl in the air as he chopped off a head with a horizontal slash.
He then took the opportunity to slash open the shield, chest and abdomen of the second Eckstedtian. Then, as blood gushed out, he swiftly parried a longsword that came thrusting towards him. Before the other party could react, he pierced the greatsword into his chest.
However, next to him, a soldier of the Fury Guards had his skull split open by an axe. He fell limply to the ground.
'Eckstedt's bastards.'
Arracca gritted his teeth and exhaled. His face was full of ferocity and savagery. He turned around and swung his sword hilt, causing the enemy to stagger.
"Observe the situation behind us and wait for an opportunity to break out of the encirclement and return to the fortress!" Arracca, whose face was covered in blood, lowered his head to avoid an axe as he shouted his orders.
"I am afraid that it will be very difficult!" An officer of the Fury Guards struggled to push back a fierce Eckstedtian and reported, "More than half of the enemies are blocking our way behind us!
"Persevere! They are only relying on their morale from the first round of attacks! "
Arracca gritted his teeth and kicked down a shield. He then stabbed his sword into the ferocious and furious face of his master. He swung his left hand at the right moment and parried a long spear with his forearm.
However, at the same time, an axe slashed towards his head. Arracca calmly lowered his head and dodged. The axe blade took away a few strands of his hair.
Wya, who was wielding a single-edged sword, arrived. He thrust his longsword forward and activated the Edge of No Return. He sliced his opponent's throat with a backhand, but his ribs were grazed by the axe blade. He groaned in pain.
Beside him, a comrade's head was smashed by a hammer as he tried to save him. Blood and white matter splattered everywhere.
"Stop using those boring swordsmanship. Put away that beautiful posture of yours!" Arracca parried a straight blade that was slashing towards Wya with his sword and roared furiously, "On the battlefield, supreme class elites are not much stronger than ordinary people!
"You will only be able to stand for more than ten minutes and kill a few more soldiers!
"Save some strength for every attack and leave room for dodging. Just stab and dodge honestly!"
An infantryman's weapon was sent flying. He roared and wanted to rush forward to hug Arracca. Without hesitation, Arracca held his sword with one hand and punched him in the face. He fiercely elbowed him and sent him flying backwards. The sound of his ribs breaking could be vaguely heard.
"Otherwise, retreat to the back. Don't be a burden!"
Wya, who had yet to recover from his injuries, could only clench his teeth and retreat in shame.
A strange gust of wind suddenly attacked them and blew up snowflakes. A few Eckstedt infantrymen who came forward to replace them could not help but raise their hands to protect their eyes.
Arracca roared madly and swung his sword with both hands. He cut open a person's shield and chest at the right time, then suddenly stabbed into another person's abdomen.
"This psionic ability is not bad …" Arracca wiped the blood off his face and frowned as he looked at Ralf's one-handed hidden blade. "But can that thing be used on the battlefield?"
The mute Ralf, who had a fractured arm, could not say anything. However, he could indeed feel the powerlessness of the hidden blade on the battlefield. Without a hand guard, every time he swung his sword, he might have to bid farewell to his own arm.
He could only use his psionic ability to support him in battle and the hidden blade to defend himself.
On the other side of the formation, Willow Ken hid behind a sword-and-shield soldier. He blocked a sword attack with his left hand and thrust his spear out of the shield with his right hand into the side of the enemy's face.
A soldier's right hand was chopped off. He held his shield and clenched his teeth as he retreated. However, when he took his first step, a flying axe cut into his chest and abdomen.
Another person stepped forward to replace him.
"You are a doctor, at least do something!" Willow anxiously shouted at Ramon, who was curled up behind him.
"I am not a military doctor!" Ramon glanced at the enemies around him. He hugged his head and shouted, "And that prince did not say that this would happen!"
"If I had known that this would happen, we would have brought along some spearmen!" Aida stood guard around Thales. She looked at the situation around her and sighed.
Her scimitar, which had no defensive capabilities, was only suitable for small-scale battles. Unless it was aimed at a vital point, it would not cause enough damage to armor. Moreover, it was impossible for her to dodge to the fullest extent in a crowded battlefield.
'If I had known that this would happen, I would have brought along my father's two-handed machete, which was said to be able to pierce through armor … That was the standard equipment of the Ancient Elven Kingdom's Imperial Guards a long time ago.
"No one expected this battle to happen!" For the time being, no enemy had broken through to the back of the second row. However, Putray still turned his head around worriedly and glanced at Thales. He anxiously shouted, "This is unreasonable!"
"There is nothing unreasonable on the battlefield!" At the forefront of the formation, Arracca swung his greatsword madly. There was already a wound on his body. "Surviving is reasonable!
Withstand the first round of attacks. There will be a time when their attacks will weaken. Find a chance to break out of the encirclement!
"Otherwise, we will all be exhausted to death here!"
At the center of the formation, Thales lay prone and hid in the shadows of the soldiers. He breathed rapidly.
He was extremely flustered.
Thales wanted to calm his hands, which were buried in the snow, so that they would no longer tremble.
However, amidst the deafening battle cries and sounds of collisions from thousands of people, his forearm was like a wild horse that had gone out of control. It disregarded its owner's will and shook disappointingly amidst the endless sounds of battle.
'Damn it.'
Thales' teeth and lips trembled. He was extremely ashamed of his performance on the battlefield for the first time.
'Hurry up and calm down.'
However, no one seemed to care about him. The soldiers beside him looked around anxiously, afraid that the layers of defense would suddenly be broken through from one direction.
A horrible howl was heard. It was the sound of a Constellation soldier being cut in half at the waist.
Thales shuddered and closed his eyes.
'Calm down!'
At this moment, the already familiar fluctuation spread from his heart.
The world around him seemed to have quietened down.
Thales instantly grasped the situation of his entire body. He could clearly feel which muscles were trembling.
With the help of that fluctuation, he breathed deeply and rhythmically.
He soothed those muscles and finally calmed down their involuntary trembling.
His heart and breathing calmed down.
But this was not enough.
Thales turned his head extremely slowly. It was as if time had also slowed down countless times as he thought desperately.
'How do I get out of this predicament?
'No, I don't understand military affairs at all. That's Arracca and Sonia's specialty.
'I can only think from a more comprehensive and fundamental perspective …
'For example.
'Why? Why does Lampard want to kill me?
'No.
'I should think in reverse.
'If I die here … What is Lampard's purpose? 'What benefits does he have?
'Think clearly about his motives and benefits.
'Impossible.
'Robbing and killing Constellation's diplomat group and Constellation's heir.
'He has no benefits at all!
'Then what is Lampard's purpose?
Did someone bribe him? '
At this moment, the long-lost memories of his previous life surged again.
"War is a highly complicated and ever-changing form of social conflict, but it has long been neglected in our field of study …
"Many scholars' research results are in response to Clausewitz's classic exposition …
"Male? evi? He proposed that structure, organizational ability, and legitimate ideology are the prerequisites for large-scale collective violence …
"Weber never explicitly included war as a social phenomenon in his theory. However, in his definition of a modern country, he mentioned that the country's power monopolizes the legitimate use of violence in the territory it claims …"
Thales resisted the flashbacks of his memories and the urgent situation before him with great difficulty.
'Damn it.
'In the territory it claims …
'Wait a minute!'
Thales' pupils shrank.
'Maybe it's not that complicated.
'War is never about killing.
'Territory …
'Lampard's original intention was to conquer the Northern Territory.
'So …'
The fluctuations faded away. Time seemed to have returned to normal. Fighting and death returned to his ears.
Thales lay on the ground, sweating profusely. He panted heavily.
He found the source of this conflict.
'Now.
'I have to get rid of it!'
"No!" An Eckstedt infantryman watched in horror as Arracca slit his throat. "You are … you are …"
But he could no longer say the rest of his words.
"Fill my position!" Arracca clenched his teeth and swung his sword again. He cut down a rough-skinned man with a hammer and retreated with a furious roar. Two sword-and-shield soldiers covered his line of defense with resolute expressions.
"We have almost exhausted the momentum of their charge this time." Arracca panted and dragged his greatsword to the center of the battle formation. He said to Aida, "Leave some people behind to guard the rear and bring the prince along. I will fight my way back to the fortress!"
"Wait a minute!"
Thales could not care less about resting. He raised his head anxiously and shouted loudly, attracting Putray and Arracca's attention. "Lampard!
"Lampard's army!
"They did not send heavy infantrymen, no cavalry, not even crossbows and archers! These are just light infantrymen that were recruited at the last minute. "Thales anxiously recalled the little military knowledge he had." They do not intend to defeat us in an instant! "
"So, do you want to stay behind to repay him?" Arracca turned around and said sarcastically, "Because of Lampard's kindness, he let us live for another fifteen minutes?
"What he wants is to stall us here for this fifteen minutes, not to quickly annihilate us!" Thales rejected Aida's support and stood up strenuously. "Lampard is betting. He is betting on his opponent's choice!"
"Our choice?" Wya, who was beside them, thrust his sword out from behind his shield and forced an axe to retreat.
Before Wya's face was cut by a longsword, Ralf dragged the powerless Wya back just in time. Wya panted and said, "Betting on us breaking out of the encirclement or defending to the death?"
"No." Thales opened his eyes and stared at Arracca. "Lampard is not betting on us."
"No!" Putray instantly understood. His face turned pale. "He would never dare to use your life to …"
Thales said anxiously, "Archduke Lampard is betting on the Broken Dragon Fortress behind us!
"The bet is on Lord Sonia Sasere's choice."
He is betting on whether she will send troops to rescue us! "
Arracca's pupils shrank abruptly.
"His bet," Thales roared, "is my life and his future!"
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