Chapter 1366 - 1284: Battle of Fat Toad (4)

Chapter 1366: Chapter 1284: Battle of Fat Toad (4)

The shells whistled through the air, landing on the snow-covered ground and bouncing off.

Sand and snowflakes scattered, and a nearby vampire screamed, flung into the air in a spread-eagle shape, crashing heavily to the ground.

With a crisp crack, red mist drifted from a broken pipe.

Without much pause, he exerted strength with his hands and stood up, hopping forward on one leg.

His right leg below the calf was blown off by artillery, preventing him from walking on both feet.

But before he could hop a couple of steps, several Holy Alliance soldiers with frost-reddened ears caught up to him.

"Wait..." he shouted loudly in Baroque, but the soldiers couldn’t understand him.

One kick knocked him down, another stomped on his back, and a sharp steel bayonet pierced through his chest.

He wanted to cry, but unfortunately, vampires have no tears.

Once he was silent, the soldiers continued to pick up their clockwork guns, either shooting from a distance or chasing to stab.

For those charging with spears and halberds, they were shot from afar, while those with blood contract rifles were rushed forward to be stabbed.

The cuirassier cavalry wielded short guns, charging back and forth at the enemy’s blood knights, hindering their assembly.

The cuirassiers did the same, but mostly waving their sabers, driving away the vampire infantry.

As for the vampire armies about to regroup, they were often subjected to concentrated fire from clockwork cannons on nearby high grounds, forcing them to scatter.

By ten o’clock, the mist had dissipated, and the vampires were utterly defeated.

Jeska finally had the chance to use the telescope, but it seemed to be of no use.

"This battle ended faster than expected." Jeska wiped the telescope lenses with his sleeve, "The vampire’s support speed is still too slow."

"Perhaps we finished the battle before they even arrived." Michelle, the Battle Commander of the Chongxin Battle Group, gazed afar, "After all, aside from cannons, it’s hard for the vampires to crack our charge-shoot tactics."

Because the vampires adopted a system of mixing melee soldiers and blood riflemen, if their reformation speed was slower than the Holy Alliance’s, they would be pierced through by bayonets.

If they reformed too early, the Holy Alliance soldiers could stand a distance away, using clockwork guns to leisurely shoot the helpless melee soldiers.

Only by precisely timing could they counter the Holy Alliance’s tactics.

Most of the time, as long as the Holy Alliance soldiers could withstand the artillery and lead bullet attacks and approach the vampire ranks, firing three to five rounds before charging.

It wasn’t even necessary for bayonets to draw blood to scatter the vampire soldiers.

However, through Jeska’s observation, many units scattered halfway through the charge and had to regroup at the rear.

The main reason was still the powerful vampire artillery.

The devastating Howl Cannon currently existed only in three-pound and six-pound versions, but its most challenging aspect was its continuous firing.

Virtually without ammunition limits and with extremely fast firing speed, this was indeed a shortcoming of the Holy Alliance’s artillery.

Unless the Seven Hills Crown Throne was brought over, creating an ether clock effect in an area, the Holy Alliance was still inferior in artillery duels.

This was an objective reality and a downside of the alchemy clockwork technology tree.

Even with infinite resources like ether, with no restrictions at all, was that possible?

In fact, ether really had no restrictions; it’s just that Horn didn’t have time to install astral towers and ether clocks everywhere.

"Artillery, sigh." Jeska shook his head, continuing to observe the battlefield, "It’s really strange, not a single reinforcement?"

"Even our cuirassiers haven’t found any."

"And the rangers? Any prisoners? Go and ask."

"Yes, sir."

Despite the battle going remarkably well, Jeska still felt something was off.

At the start of the battle, the Holy Alliance had only five thousand men engaging with ten thousand of the enemy.

In four hours, the Holy Alliance continuously reinforced, bringing numbers up to thirty thousand.

The perplexing thing was that no vampire reinforcement from the Royal Court arrived, not even a scouting cavalry was seen.

The Royal Court army couldn’t be so foolish, unlike the Empire side, always immobilized by internal disputes when allies were in trouble.

At least, from André’s submitted battle report, the Royal Court army’s initiative was apparent.

The advancement system from Lilith’s blood and the motivation of war had kept the vampires relatively united for now.

It was nearly impossible to have fought for four hours without spotting signs of reinforcement.

Under the canvas tent, Jeska paced back and forth and ordered again: "Go gather the opinions of the Battle Commanders and Corps Commanders, see what they think?"

"Understood."

Soon, two consultants arrived one after the other. The first one immediately spoke: "More than half of the Battle Commanders and Corps Commanders report that the fight was too easy, suggesting the opponent’s quality was inferior compared to that batch at Fishing City."

Jeska took a deep breath, feeling a faint ominous premonition: "I know, and you? How’s the interrogation of the prisoners?"

The consultant pursed his lips: "Sir, according to the vampire officers we captured... they were just the vanguard, not the main force... The other corps aren’t even here..."

"Where are the other vampire corps then? Isn’t Fei Ha Town their rendezvous point?"

"Fei Ha Town is indeed the rendezvous point, but according to those officers, the other corps should’ve arrived yesterday... But they might’ve gotten lost due to map errors. The mountains were drawn incorrectly on the map, these two corps almost went the wrong way when they arrived..."

"Where did they come from? Don’t tell me it’s..."

"Night Cry Gorge."

Jeska remained silent, expressionless, standing for a full minute.

Seemingly thinking of countermeasures, in fact, he was defenseless and stumped.

He knew the battle ended so quickly for a reason!

These damned vampires, don’t they know how to update their maps?

These damned Norn people, don’t they know how to draw accurate maps?

Could the Holy Alliance maps be more accurate and still be wrong?

How would he explain to the Saint’s Grandson afterward that because their maps were too accurate, they were cut off from the supply line?

Most importantly, unless the officers of the other thirty thousand vampire corps were fools, they should be near Night Cry Gorge by now.

It was important to know that he had borrowed two battle groups from Dass.

In other words, currently at Night Cry Gorge, it was Dass leading ten thousand Holy Alliance troops against over thirty thousand vampire troops!

"Stop cleaning the battlefield! Everyone, pack lightly and move quickly! Immediately reinforce Night Cry Gorge!"

...

The north wind swept across, knocking snow from the treetops, blowing through the gorge, sounding like a woman’s sobbing.

A light mist shrouded the gorge. In the black forest, only silhouettes of running bears or deer could be seen.

Dass rode a horse, following a local Norn guide, climbing to a rock platform to overlook.

The Norn guide was a hunter from the nearby North Kloeming village, voluntarily serving the Holy Alliance army.

"Sir, look." The Norn hunter still held onto traditional forms of address, "The topography of Night Cry Gorge is like an overturned double-horned hat, high from south to north, then low, then high again..."

Dass looked down and could see a river flowing from a high point, passing through several small villages in the gorge, then flowing elsewhere.

The entire shape of Night Cry Gorge was the shape of the Dysan River, an S-bend flowing from north to south.

Exactly like the map depicted.

Dass was proud of the Holy Alliance map’s accuracy.

But no matter how precise, it couldn’t capture all cultural and minor topographical details.

For instance, without the guide’s mention, he wouldn’t know there was a small earthen platform by the mountain that could barely hold a few artillery positions.

Additionally, if not for last year’s mudslide, there wouldn’t be this creek in front of him.

In the morning mist, after surveying the key terrain nearby, Dass returned to the camp.

The camp was set on a high ground by the river, four or five meters above the riverbed.

Along the riverbank, several hundred large pots were steaming with white steam, simmering pork rib stew and noodles.

Chefs opened glass jars sealed with wooden stoppers, pouring large chunks of sauce inside.

In comparison to restaurant dishes, the taste wasn’t great.

But in such weather, in this wilderness, eating a bowl of savory slightly spicy stewed meat noodles was a fine dining experience.

Smelling the aroma, Dass spurred his horse forward faster.

Just as he entered the camp, excitedly pulling out his mess tin to get food, he was surrounded by a consultant and a Battle Commander.

"Sir, the cuirassiers have scouted what seems to be vampire cavalry nearby, numbering forty to fifty."

"Now?" The eager impatience on his face quickly disappeared, and Dass took out his pocket watch.

It was only six-thirty?

Dass furrowed his brows, had Lord Jeska already finished the battle so quickly? Was there a midnight engagement?

Probably not, it was likely a belated rear guard contingent, supporting the main battlefield.

"Instruct the cuirassiers to explore more and report back, have the soldiers finish breakfast in ten minutes, and prepare for battle."