Chapter 1355 - 1273: Battle of Binhe (Part 2)

Chapter 1355: Chapter 1273: Battle of Binhe (Part 2)

Samuji dismounted, tossing his gloves to his attendant while striding forward.

"Be careful, sir." A vampire Count hastily stopped him, "This is the safe distance; be wary of the Holy Alliance’s hunters."

These veteran generals who had fought several battles against the Holy Alliance at the Shattered Stone Plain were quite experienced with their tactics.

"Don’t worry, they can’t kill me." Samuji ignored the warning, stepped forward a few more paces, and raised his binoculars.

Through the binoculars, he saw a distant hill, about ten meters high, covered in shrubs and wild grass.

In front of the yellow-tipped grassy ridge, over a hundred gray-clad soldiers sparsely stood, while behind the shrubs, many soldiers were half-kneeling.

"Such a thing is indeed surprising." Samuji couldn’t help but laugh, "Have we confirmed the number of these humans?"

"Gray-clad soldiers, numbers uncertain, likely a restructured Restoration Army from the Norn Shooting Army."

Samuji initially planned to quickly lead the troops through to cut off the Holy Alliance Army’s supply line, but André retreated too swiftly.

He was frustrated, thinking he would embarrass himself before Her Majesty Serafe.

Unexpectedly, fate smiled upon him, leading him to a group of Norn troops that hadn’t managed to retreat.

He had encountered Norn troops before.

Just those Servant Army soldiers.

Lazy, hasty, soldiers who needed a whip to move.

Yet these very soldiers were guarding the son of Norn Petrov Duke, Alexei.

A heaven-sent opportunity for achievement.

Look at this group of Norn soldiers, loosely scattered in a formation, large groups even hiding behind the ridge, not daring to show themselves.

This stance was no different from those Norn troops he’d fought before.

"We have to strike swiftly." Samuji put down the binoculars, "Lest Cataloni and their group steal the credit."

Samuji led the Third Mission fastest, existing as the vanguard.

Cataloni behind him had a large group of new troops advancing slowly, but they should arrive in a day.

"But it’s daytime now." Hearing Samuji’s words, the attendant quickly advised against it.

Samuji kicked the attendant’s backside, "I told you to go, so go. Let the Desolation Cannon blast them a bit, they’ll naturally crumble."

As the artillerymen aimed their cannons, the other vampire soldiers were busy forming column formations.

The wing leaders’ (a hundred vampires to a wing) calls echoed with forming movements.

Of course, these columns weren’t march columns, but rather large connected columns of the three horizontal formations.

Such large columns could sometimes achieve two formations of 50X18, almost forming a small phalanx.

Against Norn troops, these tight columns allowed for rapid advancement and defense against enemy cavalry.

Upon reaching the front lines, the columns would spread into horizontal formations, unleashing concentrated fire.

With Samuji’s experience attacking Leia and the Falan Army, many times, before they got close, enemy troops crumbled.

And this time would be no exception.

"Fire!"

The Royal Court Artillery Officer first shouted, and patches of dust rose in front of the artillery position as hunters aimed at them.

Yet the whistle of the lead bullets quickly drowned in the roar of the Desolation Cannon.

Behind the artillery officer was a row of Desolation Cannons with gleaming, spinning large eyes.

Artillerymen stuffed bodies into the mouths of the Desolation Cannons, and with the explosion spell, dark red shells shot out, hitting the hill slope.

Instantly, turf and loose soil shattered, dirt mixed with broken branches splashing over half a meter high.

The surrounding shrubs snapped at the waist, roots flipped with soil, tossing up a large patch of dead grass.

A hapless hunter just stood, only to be grazed by a shell on the shoulder, instantly shattering bones and tendons, collapsing to the ground.

Within minutes, concentrated shelling hit the slope.

The terrain seemed like a piece of cloth ruined by scissors, revealing strips of deep brown gullies under the green.

Many shells landed behind the ridge, likely scaring the Norn troops into fleeing chaotically.

Seeing the large column formation completed, Samuji seized the mature opportunity and immediately ordered, "Advance!"

Amidst dense footstep vibrations, three battalions totaling 1,800 men formed the large columns and began their charge.

Almost simultaneously, the hunters and scattered soldiers began their confrontation with the advanced vampires hidden in the shadows.

Unlike the hunters in Horn’s homeland, the hunters of the Holy Alliance hunt demons.

Besides their clockwork guns, they carried a steel sword soaked in Holy Water day and night.

As for these spell-using advanced vampires, they also chose to confront the hunters in unison.

They would not directly engage in the battlefield until clearing most enemy battlefield commandos.

Like the Shadow Crow Soldiers and Wild Wolf Soldiers, these were few in number.

Leading the column at the forefront was the Fifth Battalion, the second echelon was the Third Battalion, and the third echelon was the Second Battalion.

Each battalion was divided into half-battalions left and right, with approximately fifty meters between the two battalions.

Red mist swirled, the air thick with blood, and the soldiers with raven-beaked masks seemed to have emerged from Fire Prison.

Although the skirmishers were still sniping, faced with the imposing formation, they couldn’t help but panic.

Fortunately, Kutuyov appeared in time, killed a few who were speaking nonsense, and commanded the skirmishers to disperse from the flanks.

Unexpectedly, as the skirmishers dispersed, the vampires discovered a blurred grey line at the intersection of the ridge and the sky.

They stood silent, like a wall of mortar, densely arrayed under the sky.

The speed of the vampires’ column charge remained unchanged, the ridge trembled, yet the soldiers pressed like a boulder on this tremor.

It was the Norn Restoration Army, coming from the Shooting Army, strictly retrained by Holy Alliance standards.

Previously, Horn had already named them the White Scar Battle Group.

As for Aleksei, he was both the Battle Commander of the Holy Alliance’s White Scar Battle Group and the commander of the Norn Restoration Army.

Seeing the vampires cross the red-marked fence and enter within fifty meters, Aleksei, who had gritted his teeth for a long time, finally could shout fiercely: "Holy Wind!"

"Praise the Holy Wind!"

The grey-clad soldiers moved in unison, some slightly ahead of time, some slightly behind.

But the movements were consistent, the front rank half-kneeling, the middle rank in lunge position, the rear rank extending gun barrels alternately.

The gleaming bayonets reflected the sunlight, and in the next second, the light of blades and swords began to flicker.

"Swish, swish, swish——"

The sound of popping beans rang out, and the vampires in the forefront fell like cut grass.

Those familiar with the Holy Alliance’s gun and bayonet tactics knew this was only the first round.

"Praise the Holy Wind!"

Without giving them a chance to catch their breath, the second round of crossfire came rushing again, and another row of soldiers fell.

Shouting and crowded together, the front line was held back, while the rear line continued charging.

Only then did the captain of the Third Battalion react, immediately ordering two half-battalions to spread out into a line formation to support the front.

The wing leaders were even punching and kicking, forcing the vampire soldiers to move to one side, bypassing the front line.

But just as they exposed half their bodies on one side of the front, another wave of crossfire came down in a rain of lead bullets.

Amid the thudding sounds, groups of vampires clutched their smoking wounds and wailed.

They hurriedly retreated again, using the front line as a shield.

At this moment, the vampires finally began to retaliate, the bullets trailing blood smoke tracing red paths through the air.

One stray bullet even grazed Aleksei’s shoulder armor, startling both Kutuyov and Baleri.

But Aleksei seemed unaware, his eyes still fixed on the battlefield.

Due to the parabolic trajectory, the previous bombardment barely hit his ranks, aside from a few skirmishers, mostly rolling down the back of the mountain.

The vampires charged in columns, with the front line obstructing their view, and under the dense crossfire, they couldn’t spread out into a line formation quickly enough.

The resulting effect was a passive pummeling.

Aleksei felt the time was ripe, personally drawing his saber, "Fix bayonets, counter-charge!"

No need for complex formations, no need for combined gun attacks, just fixing bayonets, and they became Long Spear Soldiers.

Amidst the dense footsteps, as many as five battalions, a total of 2500 Restoration Army soldiers, with bayonets affixed, charged down along the ridge.

The red bullets sliced through the air but couldn’t stop the silver gleam of blades relentlessly closing in.

The grey sea was the first to crash into the red lake, the sound of clashing metal and shouts merging into one.

The leading soldiers suddenly leaped up, and the vampires had no time to retract their Blood Pact guns before being stabbed in the heart.

Pulling out the bayonets, black smoke rose from the wound, while behind the raven masks came heart-wrenching wails.

After all, every bayonet had been maintained daily with holy oil.

The vampires’ column immediately fell into chaos, some continuing forward, some firing back, some drawing swords for melee, and some standing in place not knowing what to do.

After a brief engagement of bayonets, likely less than thirty seconds, the vampire soldiers began to flee.

The Second Battalion at the rear, seeing the situation deteriorate, began to retreat, followed by the Third Battalion as well.

Seeing the enemy retreat, Aleksei immediately issued the order not to pursue, only using bullets to send them off for a while.

Aleksei watched the enemy retreat and couldn’t help but raise his saber in triumph, while the soldiers followed suit, shouting "Long live the Duke!"

"Alright, back to the ridge, everyone back," Baleri quickly reminded them, seeing everyone getting carried away, "The vampires are going to fire the cannons."