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

Deiss people on the bridge gradually became sparse. After waving his weapons around in the air, General Leigh who looked ferocious was stunned to realize the bridge was empty with no more Deiss.

”Long live!”

The Titans lifted their damaged weapons aloft and shouted in the sky and in the direction of the retreating enemy. Pale snowflakes fell on the body but the originally iced-cold armor immediately melt the feathery snowflakes.

Above and under the bridge, inside and outside the river and both sides of the embankment. Thousands of horrified dead bodies were scattered all around. Soldiers fell over each other with their blood oozing freely. The snowflakes that fell in the pool of blood became little white spots, looking as if like some unknown wildflowers. One after another, they grew quietly in the battlefield, blooming silently in the pool of bloody despair.

The ice-cold river water was filled with thick red blood. The rippling waves slowly pushed the dead bodies and gathered them underneath the dam. The flowing blood hence added a dazzling bright red to the ancient walls of the embankment that was first covered with dark brown wrinkles.

The Deiss did not allow the Titans on the other side of the bank to rest for long. They had countless thousand phalanxes to deploy into the fight. However, this time was somewhat different from the last. Imperial Guards trying to demolish the bridges repaired by the Deiss was sent behind the bridge fortification by a sudden rain of arrows.

The world shuddered violently, and the snow-covered ground was covered in waves of smoke and dust.

”It's the cavalry! It's the cavalry!” a Titan soldier stood on the commanding point of the embankment yelled. The commander of the Fourth Corps was quick to respond. When the enemy cavalry troops rushed to the bridge, Leigh McCaren had already deployed a team of spearmen to guard the end of the bridge by pointing the sharp spikes on the other direction.

The lone wooden bridge trembled violently as the enemies got closer gradually. The Titans could already see the ferocious warhorse continuously issuing long white puffs of air from their nostrils.

”Hold it! Hold it!” General Leigh yelled. He did not know whether his heart was trembling, or the bridge was shaking.

The collision took place in a split second! Deiss knights pulled on the reins and leaped through the simple fortifications but their hearts were pierced through by chilly spears the next moment. The cavalry that arrived afterward rushed past their comrades and into the crowd of Titans who were obstructing their way. The narrow bridge once again limited the impact. Imperial Guards cried out in their hoarse voice. They pushed and squeezed their way desperately. They greeted the horses' iron hooves with their chests and torso. They threw knives, axes, fists, teeth and every other thing that could kill at the Deiss devils.

A Titan soldier was pushed into the bloody river under the bridge by a knight's spear. Another Titan rushed up with red eyes. He first cut off the forelegs of the horse with a knife, and then took the life of the knight on the horse with a second cut. This brave soldier's helmet was knocked off by the enemy that came rushing from behind. Just as he was still staggering trying to find his balance, a third Titan soldier who was already impatient launched the long sword in his hand. Then, he picked up stones on the ground and started throwing them at the enemy.

The third soldier grabbed at every weapon around him and kept on attacking. Only until when he picked up a piece of bloody object and threw it at the enemy that he realized he had just thrown away his bloody broken arm.

The Deiss knights were besieged into the crowd. They did not know why the Titans in front of them were endless. Their knights who had entered the fortifications had all ended up as dead bodies while those knights who were stuck on the bridge became live targets for the Titan archers.

”The river...Captain...the river...”

Leigh McCaren turned to the source of the sound. He realized that the Deiss on the other side managed to find a beachhead with the shallowest water level. Two thousand arrays were gathering on the embankment, waiting to fight their way across the river.

The commander of Fourth Corps wiped his face which was full of bloody mud. He first picked up the oil bucket donated by the nearby villagers. The soldiers suddenly realized what was going on and they quickly rushed to the side of the bank.

The Deiss soldiers who were waddling through the water could only look in fear as the Titans on the other side of the bank ignited the logs and burned the hot oil. Some of the wiser ones tried to stay behind. On the other hand, the ones who were not as smart rushed forward while yelling, ”Long live the Kingdom.”

Imperial Guards threw long spears at the surface of the river thickly dotted with human heads, while the artillery from the other side sent part of the fortification and several Titan soldiers up into the sky. The commander of the Fourth Corps was slightly alarmed. Deiss had already pushed forward their artillery and long-range crossbows to the front.

The enemy surging forward had finally boarded the shallower water base. Titan soldiers guarding on the embankment shouted and the burning woods and hot oil were sent down without a word. Miserable screams were heard immediately. The rolling woods pushed the Deiss back into the river. Soldiers with broken limbs could only let their lives to be tortured in the icy river. The hot oil accumulated in a thick pool near the water level was instantaneously ignited by the burning logs.

Fire engulfed the surface of the water. Within the flames were a horrifying sight of flaming bodies while underneath the water was struggling souls. Fate forced them to experience multiple trials with water, fire, pain and despair. Death had shockingly become a luxury at this time, even unattainable. Everyone who was trapped in the sea of fire wished to reach the other side of Hell as soon as possible. Death was within reach but impossible to realize without suffering.

Unsure of the exact time, the Deiss finally retreated from the battlefield. Thick smoke spiraled upward in the battlefield. That was the remaining temperature of hot blood lingered in the cold snow. The Titans guarding the bank queued up in a line. This was the last row of soldiers remaining on the hundreds of meters long defense line along the river. There was nothing behind the soldiers, only wilderness which the dam had been guarding for past centuries.

If one would like to understand the soul of the river, take a walk along the upstream and downstream. The iced water flowed from the upstream passing through numerous obstacles to meet the downstream which was carrying corpses and dense blood. However, the river still embraced everything silently. Even if the soldiers she nurtured would be defeated, she would still heal the wounds of soldiers with her blood and relieve the thirst of the soldiers with milk.

Also, there was the embankment that embodied all the virtues of the river. It was silent, loyal, and its body was pierced through with burning feathered arrows. However, it still stood tall, taking in all this pain without a word.

The moment he received the order to block the enemy, General Leigh McCaren had already understood that the Fourth Corps would be another unit of the Northern Army Group to lose its designation. Yet, he had no complaints. Soldiers of the empire were born in Titan hence they should return their lives and souls to Titan. This was the glory built on dignity. There really was no need to complain.

General Leigh shook hands with the last row of guards on the striker's line. He embraced the warriors who defended the motherland with his strong, blood-filled arms. Every time he passed by one of them, he said, ”See you again!”

Some soldiers kept quiet while some soldiers were full of passion. They hold the commander's hand and replied this brave general, ”When we meet again, we will still be your soldiers, the soldiers of the empire!”

When the army commander of the Northern Army Group returned to the front line, the engineers deployed by the army headquarters had already finished burying explosives. They were right below the fortifications at the bridge and they were enough to send this 10-meter-long bridge to the sky.

The sun dangled to the west when the sky began to clear. This made all the soldiers breathed a sigh of relief. They stayed at their post throughout the day, hopefully even the wounded had already withdrawn to safety. The soldiers could not help but feel dejected at the thought of this. Behind the defense line, they also had children, parents, and many other reasons for them to stay alive. However, the Deiss had already sounded the horn. Fourth Corps had no more bows and arrows. Even the swords and spears in hands were all snatched from the enemy. There would always be times where survival become a luxury. It was depended on them to be calm and at ease while treating this matter.

Attacks, resistances and repeated struggles happened around the bridge. The sounds of shouting and killing began to weaken, the comrades around them had gradually turned into the faces of their rival enemies. General Leigh McCaren ignited the lead of the explosive just as the enemy's saber almost cut into his body.

The edge of the blade did not cut through his body. Instead, his body twisted out of his control and he fell into the icy river.

Looking up from under the water, a huge light of fire took everything away in a flash. The shock of the explosion made the surface of water rippled violently. Just as General Leigh was about to lose his consciousness, his flag and the fragments of bodies fell from the air. The flag eventually landed on him. His body was pushed by the current away from the battlefield. Finally, feeling gratified, he closed his eyes.

His eyes shot open. The excruciating pain from the wounds caused General Leigh to frown. He was confused to discover the embankment was going backward. After what seemed like forever, the Imperial Guards general who gradually gathered himself realized he was in a carriage. His military flag was also being placed on his body.

A beautiful young woman suddenly lifted the curtain of the carriage, ”You're awake! Our village people saved you from the river!”

General Leigh nodded gently, ”Thank you...devils...where did they go?”

”Don't worry!” the young woman pointed to the other side of the river bank, ”There are many soldiers deployed by the road for defense! We'll arrive at Bron Fortress in two days!”

Leigh McCaren did not say any word. On the other hand, the beautiful lady rushed into the carriage and placed her hand on the general's shoulder intimately.

”Hey! Which unit are you from? Do you know my husband? Captain Rock who's great with shooting arrows?”

”Rock?” Imperial Guards Major General remembered the young archer who was trampled over by the Deiss cavalry beyond recognition.

”He...he's walking in front!”

Sweet dimples surfaced at the corners of her mouth when the young woman smiled. She kissed the cheek of the soldier as she did last time, ”I knew it...all of you are the good guys!”

The river remained calm as it flowed its way through.