Chapter 584

Chapter 584: The Final Battle

"Three thousand steps"

"Two thousand steps"

"One thousand five hundred steps, bed crossbows ready"

"One thousand two hundred steps, bed crossbows firing"

On the walls of the Datong Army’s camp, a general was calculating the enemy’s distance. At one thousand two hundred steps, the bed crossbows were the first to fire, powerful enough to penetrate heavy armor.

"Five hundred steps, sharpshooters, take aim"

"Three hundred steps, heavy repeating crossbows firing"

"One hundred steps, medium-sized repeating crossbows are fired."

At every distance, different types of warriors join the attack. For example, those Martial Arts Masters wielding specially made powerful bows can shoot down Demon Humans from a distance of five hundred steps. There are also different models of repeating crossbows with varying power.

When the Demon Humans rush to fifty steps, light repeating crossbows also start shooting. Arrows rain down, directly killing many Demon Humans. Even if they don’t die, there are Martial Arts Masters waiting for them.

"Wuwuwu…"

Soon, horns sound from the side of the Demon Humans, and the remaining ones quickly retreat. It seems like the Demon Human leaders have realized something is wrong.

A small victory brings joy to the camp. However, in the following days, when Lin Jiang tries the same tricks again, the Demon Humans won’t be fooled. At most, they will send servant soldiers to their deaths.

"We still need to openly engage in a wild battle."

Lin Jiang sighed. Being clever on the battlefield was no use. He had to defeat the enemy in a night battle because they had a longer front line, more troops, and higher provisions consumption. In a little over a month, it would snow, making food transportation extremely difficult. Therefore, they had to engage in a strategic decisive battle before the snowfall.

·····

"Boom, boom, boom…"

The sound of war drums echoed as the Datong Army marched out of their camps and lined up in formation. On the other side, the Demon Humans did the same. It was a decisive battle with a deep sense of understanding between the two sides.

The Datong Army was worried about the shortage of food and supplies after the snowfall, so they were ready for a decisive battle. The Demon Humans, on the other hand, received news that humans were attacking from all directions. With fires spreading throughout Demon Human territory, they were eager to defeat the humans in front of them and then send reinforcements to other Demon Human areas. That’s why they reached a mutual agreement.

Nearly a million soldiers from both sides were deployed on a battlefield spanning hundreds of miles, with no end in sight. General Xia Liang had to delegate authority to several of his top generals, giving them enough autonomy to make decisions about parts of the battlefield.

"General Xia, how should we fight?"

"We should make good use of our weapons. Send our regular troops to the front lines first, then, when the time is right, deploy the chariots at the rear of the battle formation. Store supplies inside the chariots and then feign defeat to lure the enemy into an attack."

"We’ll follow your strategy. I’ll take care of the ten thousand regular soldiers from the Ape Tribe."

Lin Jiang nodded. He didn’t care about the specifics of the battle plan. He focused on the ten thousand elite soldiers from the Ape Tribe. If they were going to fight, it had to be against the best – there was no point in engaging with the auxiliary forces.

The battle quickly began with the Demon Humans sending their auxiliary forces into combat. However, the auxiliary forces were quickly defeated after only a few rounds. These auxiliary forces were fierce against the armies of the Chen Kingdom era, but they were no match for the Datong Army.

They didn’t become weaker, but they faced very strong enemies. In the late period of the Chen Kingdom, there weren’t many elite troops left.

The servants’ army suffered a major defeat, so the Demon Humans had to intervene personally. Many tribal soldiers and horses were mobilized. Although the tribal soldiers appeared disorganized because they lacked training, the Datong Army didn’t dare to underestimate them. These were not just a random group of people but individual strong Demon Humans.

A single Martial Arts Master was like a lamb to be slaughtered in front of a well-trained army. However, when the number of martial artists increased, the army could not suppress them in terms of quantity and the situation reversed.

Therefore, in the true battles, those tribal Demon Humans didn’t show any signs of training. Nevertheless, they relied on their large numbers to break through each battle formation one by one.

"Retreat, the commander has ordered, retreat!"

"Retreat through the middle gap, quickly!"

The Datong Army engaged in battle quickly received the order to retreat. Behind them, there were suddenly formed several large formations of vehicles, and ahead of the vehicle formations were several groups of soldiers. There were gaps of over ten meters between each vehicle formation, through which the fleeing soldiers escaped.

The Demon Humans, carried away by their killing spree, simply rushed towards the vehicle formations.

"Fire!"

When the Demon Human approached, the soldiers on the chariot started shooting a continuous stream of crossbow bolts. Each soldier carried four or five crossbows, immediately grabbing another one after using one up. Inside the chariot, there were soldiers dedicated to fitting empty crossbows with arrows, ensuring a continuous flow of arrows.

The attacking Demon Humans, upon being shot by the crossbow bolts, suffered heavy casualties instantly. Even skilled fighters were helpless against such intense crossbow fire; with so many bolts coming at them, they couldn’t dodge with their agility and had to withstand the attack, hoping luck would see them through.

As they charged near the chariots, they were met with a long spear formation. A fierce battle ensued, with only a few exceptionally strong ones being able to break through the obstruction and penetrate the chariot defense.

However, breaking through one chariot formation was futile because there were dozens to hundreds of chariot formations on the battlefield, like pieces on a chessboard. Losing one or two pieces was insignificant.

"Datong Country is a hundred times stronger than Chen Kingdom, yet the battle is still so difficult. I cannot help but wonder, what would the situation be like if it were still Chen Kingdom at this moment?"

Watching the scene before him under the banner of the Datong Army, Xia Liang felt a mix of emotions. The Datong Army under his command was the strongest he had seen in decades of military service, without question.

In recent years, Lin Jiang had been tirelessly training the entire Datong Country’s army, eliminating the weak. Before the war began, all the border troops of Mizhou State were warriors training rigorously for over three years. In Xia Liang’s eyes, they had become surprisingly strong.

Surprisingly, there was no advantage gained in the fight against the Demon Humans, despite them being tribal troops – essentially a disorganized and unruly group.

"General Xia, I need not say more. My presence is the opportunity bestowed upon the human race by the heavens."

"Your Majesty, you’re right. But if we win this battle, I would like a reward."

"What does General Xia want?"

"He wants Your Majesty to establish a royal harem for the future heirs."

"Ahem, let’s talk about this later."

Lin Jiang coughed and felt frustrated. Over the years, almost all of the high officials in Datong Country had been urging him to marry and have concubines. As soon as Lin Jiang agreed, tens of thousands of beautiful women would be sent to his room.

But Lin Jiang had been refusing. He didn’t blame them. In this era, the monarch’s heirs were crucial for the country’s stability. Even though they didn’t know Lin Jiang’s exact age, after fighting for over a decade, they assumed he was not young.

Turning his gaze back to the battlefield, the fighting had escalated to a fierce stage. Both sides had suffered heavy losses, and news from other battlefields kept coming to Xia Liang. He continued to give orders, either commanding troops to approach a certain area or providing support.

"Your Majesty, overall, we are slightly ahead. We now only need to deal with the ten thousand soldiers of the Demon HumanApe Tribe."

Xia Liang glanced at the sky. The Demon HumanApe Tribe would also make a move soon. If they delayed any further, it would soon be dark, making it difficult for both sides to fight and increasing the risk of friendly fire.

"Yes, this is a change, I am also a change."

Lin Jiang nodded, he had been watching from the sidelines, aware of the battlefield situation. Overall, the Datong Army was about seventy to eighty percent of the Demon Human’s quality, but their numbers were several times greater. Quantity made up for the lack of quality, they had already begun to control the situation.

Of course, the Demon Human still had an elite force of ten thousand Ape Tribe soldiers who hadn’t moved. Lin Jiang also kept back an elite force of ten thousand, with six thousand being his personal guards.

"Your Majesty, the Demon Human have made a move. They are getting impatient and are letting their subordinates waste some time. First, let’s wear down their sharpness and we will win."

In no time, Xia Liang saw the final elite force of ten thousand Demon Human soldiers make a move. He was overjoyed and immediately prepared to deploy his troops to meet them. They would first use regular troops to wear them down, then have Lin Jiang charge in to stabilize the situation.

"No need, I will intercept."

Lin Jiang shook his head, leaving behind a sentence, and floated away. He had already landed on a spirited horse, believing it was prudent to let the regular troops consume the enemy’s sharpness. However, Lin Jiang also wanted to preserve as much of the army’s morale as possible, after all, this was only the first major battle.