Chapter 241: Twenty-sixth Episode: Chapter 5-2 (1/2)

Chapter 241: Twenty-sixth Episode: Chapter 5-2

Translator: EndlessFantasy TranslationEditor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Sunshine once again covered the earth. The river caressed the embankment gently with small and irregular waves. The Imperial Guards on the road had dispersed as the vast world fell into silence at dawn. The morning breeze blew away the rubbish left on the road to the grass beside the roadbed. Fallen yellow leaves gathered into piles. This was the fall the road of the countryside was full of unattended ripened fruits. Apples on the ground have already begun to rot, releasing a miserable smell as the fall wind gushed through.

An Imperial Guards officer walked down from the embankment. He happened to encounter an apple that had not been touched by a field mouse as he wandered around the abandoned countryside. The officer picked it up, wiped it on his uniform, and took a big bite at the juicy fruit.

The officer made a gratifying noise as a fruity scent filled his mouth and nostrils. He looked north at the faintly visible horizon, but his vision was still limited by dawn. The sun seemed unable to reach the end of the horizon, causing the other side of the earth looking like a sea of white.

As the river turned southeast, a solitary wooden bridge connected two banks. The wide and long bridge allowed four horses to gallop side by side across the river more than 30 meters wide.

There was no one on the bridge, only the sound of flowing water in the river could be heard. On the southeast end of the bridge, Titan soldiers built a barricade with rocks and logs to obstruct the cavalry. Certain parts of the bridge had also been removed.

Two soldiers were guarding behind the fortifications. One dozed off with his spear in hand, whereas the other was reading a booklet while carrying bows and arrow on his back. The officer had returned from the field. He bypassed the fortification on the river bank and jumped directly on the bridge.

The officer's disheveled uniform was stained with dirt. The badges signifying his military ranks were nowhere to be seen. However, both sentries seemed to recognize him. They performed a respectful military salute to the officer, but the latter did not return the gesture. Instead, he picked two apples from the pannier behind him and threw them at the soldiers who had been awake all night.

The soldiers indulged in the sweetness of apples, all while smiling and chatting with their officer. Moments later, the soldier carrying bow and arrows suddenly kept quiet. He narrowed his eyes to inspect the other direction carefully.

Flags, the sound of gallops, clouds of dust trailing off ground.

The sentry turned to glance at his officer. The latter scoffed as he stared at the other side of the bank enveloped in smoke and dust, ”Whistling arrow!”

As the whistling arrows shot across the sky, clouds dispersed as if they were frightened by the wails. The sun immediately peaked from behind the clouds.

The temporary stone wall established on the embankment suddenly came to life. Initially, two or three soldiers staggered to their feet, and then the rest of them began shouting series of passcodes and various orders in the rear.

Numerous Titan soldiers lying on the grass field below the embankment shot their eyes opened either of fatigue or fright and began rushing toward the embankment with weapons in hands.

Next to the officer, a flag bearer unrolled the army flag representing Titan Empire Imperial Guards Northern Army Group Fourth Integrated Infantry Corps. This was the designation unit of this team, and Major General Leigh McCaren was the army commander of these soldiers. He bit into another apple. The pannier filled with apples had been passed on to the frontline. Soldiers modestly declined the offer as if nobody was interested in having this monotonous breakfast.

The Deiss were here. Dozens of Teutonic Knights bearing the White-eyed Buzzard Flags rushed onto the bridge. The bridge trembled slightly. The invaders had to stop and turned around when they came to the parts of the bridge that had been destroyed. They inspected the Titan soldiers who were on the opposite side with careful eyes.

Leigh McCaren threw away the apple core and looked around his surroundings. The army of Fourth Corps seemed to be at a loss. They executed blocking actions right after experiencing a fierce battle. Initially, the soldiers complained about the arrangement of the army group. However, arriving at this peaceful river bank after being chased to retreat by the Deiss for more than a dozen kilometers, the Fourth Corps was completely exhausted mentally and physically.

”Let this be the last fight...” the northern soldiers exclaimed. They were tired and irritated of being chased after. It was not they stood upright by the river bank after a long nap that it suddenly occurred to them – this was their motherland, Titan. They should not let the Deiss soldiers achieve their goals so easily.

The Deiss soldiers came and went. Dozens of Teutonic knights left the wooden bridge and hurried back to the other side of the river. Soon they disappeared in the blink of an eye, most probably left to inform their officers.

The soldiers of the Fourth Corps did not waste time. They all knew that there were more than tens of thousands of dark devils on the other side of the river waiting to slaughter their people. Arrows and tinders were carried onto the embankment. Some shallower sections of the river were filled with logs and stones. Lastly, the final war resources were distributed to the soldiers. Judging from the poor amount of stale bread and cracked blades, everyone knew this was going to be the final battle of the Fourth Corps.

The sun was still hanging up high in the sky just moments ago but now the clouds were getting denser. The sun only showed its round outline from behind the clouds, then after a while, it simply disappeared.

Feathery snowflakes fluttered around and landed softly on the river surface. The quick current carried the snowflakes downstream rapidly. Snowflakes also landed on the soldiers' armor. This made the Titan soldiers felt inexplicable sorrow. It was the same as before – snowflakes danced around in the dark sky as Deiss soldiers charged and crashed into the defense line of the Imperial Guards. They had been chasing after them until here and it seemed like they were not planning to stop.

Major General Leigh McCaren was irritated by the snowflakes that dropped into the collar of his uniform. Finally, he simply removed his armor and tore open the collar of his military uniform. His soldiers looked at him with strange eyes. He was indifferent to the stares and even stripped off his military uniform which he thought was also a burden. With his bare upper torso, he stepped on the fortification with one foot while carrying his long-handled sword.

The river carrying snowflakes flowed forward in a steady stream. The dam that had experienced hundreds of years of hardship stood motionless at the soldiers' feet. The water took away its glorious appearance but not its spirit to guard the water and soil.

The Deiss were here. Their regular army marched in unison in accordance with the commands.

Titan soldiers looked at them with a blank expression. The enemies' phalanxes were in neat formation. They looked like moving blocks of black woods as snowflakes landed on their glittering black armor.

Deiss soldiers on the opposite of the quiet river ceased hostilities. They were massive in numbers. These black forests generated white puffs of air as they exhaled. The breathing of tens of thousands of people gradually grew denser to a thin fog. Titan soldiers lifted their bows and aimed at the front row of soldiers.

The army commander of the Fourth Corps was checking his battle line by the riverfront. Every brick and stone was a result of his sweat and blood. Someone just informed him that more than a dozen of deserters ran away last night. Leigh McCaren was troubled for a while. He had long known that people were different, just like on the other side of these army ruffians were the good brothers who followed him to fight a deadly battle. If fate was destined since the start, why was it not those bastards who died?

”Raise the shield as high as possible…look between the gap...try not to waste the arrows...” the commander of the Fourth Corps reminded his soldiers as he paced around. The soldiers looked at their commander in awe. They loved their commander. If it was not for his intelligence, they would have long been captured by the enemies who were much larger in numbers than their own troop.

Snow fluttered from the sky. In front of them was a river, and the tall dam was right under their feet. On the opposite side were those Deiss devils who were cracking their heads trying to figure out ways to break through the obstacles. Although they were lacking in supplies, the soldiers were satisfied as they had the upper hand at the moment. Those who want to cross the river had to ask for permission from the things in their hands.

All of a sudden, the Deiss campsite burst into an uproar, and a team of heavy-armed ax wielders rushed out from the mighty army formation. They dashed forward like a black horse whipping forcefully on the bridge. Their bodies were protected by shields. The soldiers responsible for repairing the bridge began transporting large tree trunks to the bridge.

The black team marched forward incessantly. The Imperial Guards on the opposite finally responded. It started with rounds of overwhelming cheer, followed by the arrows which danced wildly across the sky. Snowflakes increased the weight of these fatal weapons and these arrows flew past the soldiers' heads in a close shave. The arrows almost landed on Deiss' shield at the same time. Some drilled into the gap between the shields and instantaneously took away the life of a Deiss soldier.

The soldiers that fell to the ground left the shield wall on the bridge constantly exposed to the opposite party. The Titans seized this opportunity and continued shooting more arrows into those gaps. The Deiss soldiers who had no choice fell helplessly and desperately into the turbulent water.

On the frontline was a team of exceptionally skilled archers who were responsible for shooting the soldiers who tried to repair the bridge. They aimed carefully and released their bows quickly. As those Deiss soldiers in front fell, the ones behind hurriedly took up their spaces as if they were ignorant to the idea of death. Dead bodies without armor scattered everywhere. Bridges and rivers were continuously filled with arrows and bleeding corpses.

The snow was still falling. Deiss' phalanges consisted of thousand people could only spread out to a dozen people front on the bridge. One after another they fell in front of the Titans, but then soon appeared before their eyes.

Halfway through repairing the bridge, Deiss long-range attack forces on the river bank finally opened fire. They utilized artillery made of scrap iron and sub-three bow crossbows that could fire three arrows horizontally at once. Fortunately, the weapons used were of low precision. The smoke and the whizzing giant arrows only added some terrifying atmosphere to the battlefield.

Titans responded to the enemy's offensive with the simplest catapult mechanisms. The catapult was filled with stones and fragments of broken swords. As soon as they released the hooks, the awful mess in the basket would be sent to the other side of the bank.

The Deiss soldiers' protective shields and armor were wide and thick. They stepped on the corpses and continued to advance albeit the shower of stones and arrows. Finally, Titan soldiers saw the enemies' faces. Shields down and spears out. The enemies in front were pierced through, but more of them came rushing from both sides of the spears.

Both sides of the bridge fortifications were caught up in hand-to-hand combat. Due to the limitation of bridge width, there was always only twenty or so soldiers who could greet one another with weapons. These twenty or so people could only last three to five minutes. Every time someone fell over, their space would be filled by their comrades.

More Deiss soldiers were pushed down the bridge. Their heavy armor made them struggled in the water. Many were shot and killed with precise arrows while some had their life taken away by the river that nurtured northern Titans. However, there were still countless of them who rushed to the embankment. Titans on the embankment stood behind the fortification used various objects to kill the enemy. There was no time for compassion, doubt, or thinking. It was as if both sides were in a competition to find out who could kill quicker and more violent.

The fierce battle was raging with anger. The chaos under the snow sounded even louder than ever. Miserable wails synchronized with the sound of killings like how the water gushed to the rhythm of assault bugle call. Everyone was wielding weapons in the air, everyone was fighting for the final little room of survival between the river, embankment, bridge and hell.