Chapter 1364 - 1282: Battle of Feiha (Part 2)

Chapter 1364: Chapter 1282: Battle of Feiha (Part 2)

"Boom——"

The earth shook, and snow fell from the pine branches, landing on Hanske’s shoulders and neck, sending a cold shiver through him.

Just as he reached up to brush the snow off his neck, the urging voice of the red-haired young man, Meleag, intermingled with the whistle of shells, came through: "Hurry up!"

Hanske had no choice but to shake his neck and continue to step forward.

The cold air froze all smells, leaving only a dry, cold scent.

Even with fur-lined leather boots, stepping on the brittle riverbank ice surface felt piercingly cold.

Not to mention the faint cracking sound of the ice breaking.

He raised his head, and in the vast whiteness of the house, he could see no more than ten or so people at the forefront; beyond that, nothing was visible.

In the cold morning mist, silhouettes swayed, everyone bowing their heads and moving quickly.

The soldiers in the misty ranks were like red-brownish-gray yarn in a washbasin, sometimes visible and sometimes hidden.

The Eighth Vanguard Corps of the First Battle Corps from Xia Lvcheng was walking along this less than two-meter-deep riverbank.

They wore gray-brown coats, held clockwork guns, and walked in the footprints of those ahead, occasionally slipping or stepping into an ice hole.

At the ears, just on the other side of the black pine forest, no more than two miles away, was a large battlefield of tens of thousands fighting.

Hanske knew that it was the First Battle Corps of Cold Spring Castle facing off against the vampire soldiers head-on.

Their location was a plateau of river confluence about thirty miles outside the town of Fertile Clam.

And their task was to occupy an important village and its highland as a corps unit.

Their Battle Commander believed that if the vampires captured that highland and set up cannons, it would cause huge casualties to the Holy Alliance Army.

Even if the Holy Alliance’s own cannons couldn’t be transported up in time, they couldn’t allow the vampires’ cannons to be transported up.

Of course, not only the Vanguard Corps had to do this; other corps were also setting out along roads or rivers to seize important positions.

These positions would provide more tactical options for the coming follow-up forces.

To be a soldier, obeying orders is a duty.

But every time he thought about having a deadly battle with the enemy, he felt dizzy.

It seemed that Meleag, the red-haired young man who had mocked him as a Saint, noticed his timidity and sneered: "If you’re scared, just go back; anyway, you have no family, no fear of being a deserter."

"Say that again?!" Hanske suddenly turned around, his gaze seemingly swallowing Meleag.

Meleag first shrank his head, then with a rush of red and bulging veins extended his neck in a rage, attempting to retaliate.

But before he could say a word, a sharp whistle came, and a misfired shell grazed the treetops and crashed into the river.

Immediately, a water column as tall as two people rose, and icy rain fell on everyone’s heads, cooling the quarreling hearts of the two.

"Are we almost there?" Meleag asked Captain Ten ahead, over Hanske.

Captain Ten glanced at the iron ball in the river, did not answer, but looked down at the advancing ranks ahead: "No stop, which means not yet there."

So everyone continued to follow the forward ranks, after a while, Meleag asked again: "Are we there?"

"Not yet."

"..."

"How about now?"

"No."

"..."

"Captain Ten?"

"I told you, not..."

Before Captain Ten could finish speaking, a spray of blood blossomed at his throat; he stood for half a second before falling straight down.

After the first shot, a series of whirring sounds followed.

The mist pierced, snowflakes splashed, tree bark shattered, a few soldiers howled and fell, lead bullets making crisp sounds in their armor under the coats.

"Form ranks, form ranks!" The Senior Pastor donned his helmet, kicking and punching the frantic soldiers.

He walked only a few steps before a stray bullet hit his arm, instantly dyeing his coat red with blood.

Yet the Senior Pastor merely swayed a bit before continuing to roar: "Stay calm! Their shooting density is too low; it’s not a large force."

As the Senior Pastor said, after the first round of shooting, they awaited the second round, which was delayed.

The Senior Pastor quickly ran to Captain Ten and called a Service Soldier to drag him aside, marking the location, then pointed at Hanske: "You, be the temporary Captain Ten."

"Huh? Me?"

"Yes, you, you’re an active member of the Holy Sect; it should be you."

"Senior Pastor, shouldn’t we nominate or perhaps the sergeant..." Maleleger coveted this position for a long time and quickly spoke up.

"Holy Father above, we’re at war! Say one more word, and I’ll pull out your tongue!" The Battle Commander came from the other side, furiously cursing, then walked towards the rear.

Not long after, as the team became more orderly, he returned: "Forward, forward, double time forward!"

Hanske, confused, became Captain Ten, yet still thought of himself as a soldier, and rushed out quickly.

The rest followed suit, running forward at a fast pace.

Lead bullets flew through the woods, kicking up flurries of snow at their feet.

Hanske only felt his blood rushing to his brain, cold was no longer felt.

Running, continuing to run, there was a thud on his shoulder, but he didn’t feel it and kept running.

The distant village became clearer, the wooden bridge on the river became clearer, and the line of vampire guards became clearer.

The soldiers who had been running stopped and started shooting.

Because of the heavy fog and exposed position, after a round of exchange fire, the Corps Commander immediately realized they couldn’t afford to shoot slowly.

If they continued this way, it would be too late.

"Bayonets! Directly in column formation, charge through! If you die, so be it!" With a grim expression, the Corps Commander led, raising his bayonet, head lowered, charging at the vampires.

The fear and pain-induced adrenaline, along with the priests’ Divine Art, kept all soldiers from stopping, directly roaring as they charged forward.

Hanske was swept by the crowd, following and rushing into battle.

The vampires clearly didn’t anticipate this step, hurriedly pulled military swords or turned to let the spear soldiers advance.

But it was too late, the Holy Alliance soldiers’ charge speed was obviously faster than their reformation speed.

Many soldiers even shot while running, although they didn’t know where the bullets went, they still forced the vampires into a chaotic state.

"Wanpiao!"

Hanske shouted, pushing off the ground, and lunged forward.

The fog slid past the sides of his face, the pale faces of vampires started to appear, both humans and vampires were startled.

The vampire hurriedly raised a rapier to parry, but the bayonet with the Holy Gun was obviously much longer than the rapier.

With a squelching sound, the vampire didn’t even cast a spell before being pierced through the heart, black smoke immediately billowed from the wound and nose and mouth.

Even though he only killed one personally, Hanske felt as exhausted as if he had run all day, his arms and legs trembling.

At the moment of contact, unable to reform the formation with close combat spear troops, more than three hundred vampires were quickly dispersed.

In the fog, on the snowy ground, there were chaotic battles or fleeing vampire soldiers and officers.

Blood claws flew, acid sprayed, various blood magic or necromancy exploded on the snowy ground.

Occasionally, clock grenades or plasma grenades were thrown, white light mixed with bloodlight fluttered through the chaotic fight.

The ground seemed like a white canvas splashed with paint, black, white, yellow, red... smeared with corpses and the earth.

Then came the densely packed gunfire, coming from their own side.

Hanske’s mind was blank, simply following the crowd into the black curtain tent.

About half an hour later, the shouting of battle gradually ceased, and on the village’s flagpole, a sun gear flag was rising slowly.

Sitting down slowly against the wall, the teammates from the ten-man squad returned, sitting down.

They said not a word, nothing to say.

Until the thrill of adrenaline faded, the Divine Art gradually lost effect, and piercing pain came from their shoulders, thighs, even their torsos.

Immediately, all around were cries of anguish and wailing, service soldiers hurried forward, starting to bandage wounds and relieve pain.

Then a ridiculous idea formed in the minds of everyone including Hanske.

Was this... victory?

Was it really that simple?

Recalling the battlefield just now, he suddenly shouted, "Maleleger, did you see me just now? I killed one personally... Maleleger?"

Among the following ten-man squad, seven remained, Captain Ten, Maleleger, and another whose name he couldn’t recall were gone.

"Where’s Maleleger?" Hanske asked the service soldier.

That service soldier was familiar with them, but now he just smiled wryly, "His face was ripped open by blood claw magic, brains came out."

"Can that be healed?"

"With the brains out, do you think it can be healed?"

Standing in the snow amid confusion for a long time, Hanske only felt that the joy of the recent victory was not so joyful after all.