Chapter 1356 - 1274: Battle of Binhe (Part 2)

Chapter 1356: Chapter 1274: Battle of Binhe (Part 2)

Indeed, after Barrei called the soldiers back to the ridge, the enraged Samuji launched another round of artillery fire.

In fact, this is also a common tactic of the Royal Palace Guards when facing the Imperial Army.

In short, it’s artillery bombardment, cavalry charge, cavalry charge followed by artillery bombardment, and repeat.

But this simple tactic had the entire Empire beaten with no power to counterattack.

Barrei summarized it as, although Flanlaya had more sophisticated tactics, their execution was poor.

So they were always defeated by the Blood Race, who had simple tactics but executed them perfectly.

From this perspective, the Holy Alliance was the same, appearing to attack everyone with a simple normal attack, without any brilliant campaigns.

But behind this were countless strategic planning and strict execution by officers.

The Holy Alliance even enjoyed studying specific tactics, like this reverse slope tactic, discovered accidentally during an exercise.

The opposing Battle Commander at the time took three times the forces to chew through this reverse slope position, shouting that it was cheating.

The principle is simple, hide behind the ridge where the trajectory of the shells can’t reach.

When the enemy charges up, they have no vision and cannot judge when to change formation or speed.

"Luckily it’s daytime now, those vampires can’t fly." Barrei explained the principle while drawing on the ground with a twig, "If it were night, and they spotted us from the air, it would be much harder to fight."

"Do you think the enemy’s commander will realize this?" Alexei asked.

Barrei smiled, "I personally guess he’ll need to charge two or three more times to respond."

"What about us?"

"We rotate and rest. Our six to seven thousand are surrounded by their over ten thousand, plus elite troops; it’s enough to maintain equilibrium." Barrei warned, seemingly afraid Alexei would be reckless, "Don’t think about counterattacking or doing anything sensational."

"I know." Alexei rolled his eyes, "Have the messengers been sent for reinforcements?"

"They have."

"What was said?"

"Reinforcements will arrive soon, calculating by marching speed, they’ll be here by tomorrow morning at the latest."

As they were speaking, Barrei suddenly fell silent, tilting his ear to listen for a moment: "The artillery bombardment isn’t as dense as before; it must be the Royal Court coordinating, we need to be prepared."

"Damn it, the nearest river is so far away, we can’t use the ballista." Alexei complained.

"Stop complaining, get up and organize the soldiers." Barrei laughed and cursed, "If we fail, that would be laughable."

...

Watching the vampire soldiers withdraw for a second time, Samuji felt incredulous.

If it were the Northern Army, a bunch of upstart trash, being repelled twice would be understandable.

But who were they? They were the Royal Palace Guards.

Cataloni could at least have some drawn battles against the Holy Alliance Army, but here with Samuji, the casualty ratio was almost three to one.

Three vampires for one human soldier, what was happening?

However, after two failed charges, Samuji didn’t stubbornly persist but instead sent out reconnaissance while pondering the matter.

It wasn’t until evening that he gradually realized: "These despicable humans, heh, they really have a way. No wonder Serafe said the most important thing about the Holy Alliance, indeed interesting."

The noble beside him from the Servant Army was a bit dazed hearing this slightly admiring remark: "Aren’t you angry?"

"Why should I be angry?" Samuji took a big gulp of wine, "They can use tactics, and I can’t? Learn it and take it back, let them taste this themselves next time."

As an emerging military group, neither the Holy Alliance nor Serafe’s new Royal Court had any historical burdens.

They could quickly learn enemy tactics, assimilate them, and had the commendable mindset to learn from their opponents.

"What do we do now?" asked the attendant beside him.

Samuji thought for a moment, "Summon some Count-level Blood Race to fly up and guide. Use zombies to fill the line first to block the lead bullets, then we’ll charge."

"Okay, I’ll arrange it right away."

Rubbing his chin, Samuji pondered for a moment and asked, "When will our people arrive? Let’s not be enveloped by the Holy Alliance Army."

"A bit later. Messages have been sent, they should be rushing day and night and arrive by tomorrow noon at the latest."

"Good." Samuji slapped the armrest of his chair and stood up, "Then tonight, if not tonight, rest during the day, just in case."

"Understood."

As the moon rose, with the dense appearance of zombies, the battle on the slope wasn’t as easy as before.

The green zombies under the moonlight intertwined with the white skeletons, surging toward the ridge wave after wave like a tide.

Lead bullets and the glowing orbs of Divine Art mingled among the skeletons and zombies, and occasionally the flash of plasma grenades lit up the entire low hill as if it were daylight.

The hunters desperately aimed to shoot down the flying vampires.

Due to the parabolic trajectory of the shells, they couldn’t turn to hit the enemy behind the ridge, and the howitzers couldn’t target them.

However, due to the light marching, Samuji hadn’t brought enough skeletons and zombies.

In the latter half of the night, the vampires finally started to take the field themselves.

This marked the most critical moment as gray and red clashed along the ridgeline.

Countless times, the exhausted Alexei was carried back by his personal guards, covered in blood.

Bullets and shells flew overhead, while occasionally the roar of howitzers and clockwork artillery echoed around.

At this point, that mercury moon reserve had to be used.

Removing the armguards, he let the medics extract the iron sand mixed with silk from his flesh, yet Alexei still issued orders: "Inform the Seventh and Eighth Corps to replace the First and Fifth Corps."

Valeri, limping along, added, "Tell the Fourth Corps to provide covering fire. Damn, these vampires really fight well."

Amidst the sporadic gunfire, as soon as the two had their wounds wrapped, they rushed eagerly back to the ridgeline.

Under the scolding of Senior Pastor Arod, two corps, each nearly 30% reduced, slowly retreated.

Under the thunder of grapeshot cannons, the Seventh and Eighth Corps swiftly filled their vacancies.

In about seven or eight minutes, soldiers of the White Scar Battle Group performed exceptionally without a hint of panic.

Only then did Samuji truly regard this army with seriousness.

Although they lost the advantage of visibility, the casualty ratio between both sides quickly returned to one to one.

But fighting to such a bloody extent, they managed to maintain morale.

For humanity, it was indeed a miracle.

Considering his own casualties, Samuji still chose to withdraw temporarily.

First, because dawn was approaching, and second, excessive losses would hinder his participation in future battles and affect his own standing.

Now was the time to make achievements, why engage in a death struggle with this tough foe?

He had come to cut off the Holy Alliance Army’s supply line, and having failed in this mission, the minor army was just an additional target.

If he couldn’t seize them, it didn’t matter; he could hand over to more forces later since it was almost a certainty anyway.

What could a solitary battle group do?

Going head-to-head was unwise, tomorrow he could rely on the superiority of reinforcements to surround and destroy them.

By that time, these human soldiers wouldn’t be able to rotate their forces.

Finally, the slope, lively for a day and night, was temporarily quiet.

The quiet was only temporary.

A pheasant’s cry was abruptly silenced by a soldier who tasked the cook with making a dish of time-telling chicken soup, a Holy Alliance specialty.

Compared to the previous night’s bustle, the slope seemed so peaceful in the morning.

After all, after a day and night of fierce fighting, even the war monks with their breathing techniques and vampires were exhausted.

The black tent encampment sprawled across the slope, while in the hidden caves and vehicle formations behind the mountain, people warmed themselves by the campfire, roasting wild rabbits and field mice.

What puzzled Alexei and Valeri was why André’s promised reinforcements hadn’t arrived by morning.

And what puzzled Samuji was why the army at his rear still hadn’t shown up by noon.

From morning into noon, and through an entire lukewarm afternoon, they all sat waiting in stillness.

The atmosphere remained weirdly static, until evening when both Alexei and Samuji sensed something was amiss.

Almost simultaneously, they dispatched cavalry, who ignored each other upon meeting in the wild and galloped in different directions.

Once again, moonlight climbed over the treetops, yet the vampires still remained huddled in the black tent, unwilling to emerge.

What exactly was happening? Why hadn’t the Holy Alliance’s reinforcements arrived? They had held out for two days!

Could they have been abandoned by the Holy Alliance? Or had the Holy Alliance encountered another enemy?

Alexei didn’t know, tossing and turning in his tent until dawn, when rapid footsteps finally approached.

Before they could come near, he swiftly pulled aside the flap and rushed out, as expected it was Valeri.

"Is there any news?"

"No." Valeri shook his head, "But the vampires have withdrawn their troops."

"They withdrew? Why? To lure us into attacking?" Alexei was momentarily stunned.

"Possibly. They left in quite a hurry, there’s a possibility of an ambush."

Watching the vampires retreat in bewilderment, suddenly a distant sound reached Alexei.

"Did you hear that?" Alexei suddenly dashed to the top of the slope, "It’s the sound of hooves."

The morning sun rose in the east, and through the red sunlight charged a group of cuirassiers bearing a red and black banner.

Valeri thought he was still dreaming, rubbing his eyes, but indeed thousands of soldiers were advancing from the sunrise.

The cold wind snapped the flag fiercely, yet beneath it flew André’s command banner.

"Sir Alexei, Sir Alexei!" A messenger scrambled over, "A great victory, a great victory, Lord André has encircled and annihilated more than ten thousand vampires at Binhe! A great victory!"