Chapter 1464: The Final Dawn (Part 2)

“One hour?”

As the leader of the clansmen army guarding the mountain defense line, Taylor hesitantly looked at the dust rising in the distance.

“Will the reinforcements definitely arrive in an hour?”

“They definitely will.” Konyaz’s face darkened as he assured him repeatedly, “Look, the first batch of reinforcements has already come up.”

Not far away, the three battalions of Munger were climbing along the mountain path, heading to the summit for support.

Upon truly seeing the first batch of reinforcements, Taylor’s restless heart settled significantly, and he immediately guaranteed with a thump on his chest:

Within an hour, he wouldn’t let the Holy Alliance cross the third defense line, or he’d change his last name to Nigel.

Having received the guarantee, Konyaz, after repeated reminders, still headed up the mountain to meet Serafe.

He wanted to ensure Serafe wouldn’t issue any desperate orders out of agitation; if it pressured the reinforcements into panic and led to a counterattack by the Holy Alliance, it would be a major embarrassment.

Regarding whether they could hold off the 30,000 Holy Alliance troops, Konyaz was unsure.

It required Taylor to adopt a beast-like mindset, delaying at the cost of blood.

The three defense lines could at most delay for forty to fifty minutes, and the remaining ten minutes would have to rely on Taylor and his soldiers to fill with flesh and blood.

“The rise and fall of the Royal Court depends on you, brother!” Before departing, Konyaz performed a half-kneel salute to Taylor before mounting his horse.

Seeing someone as esteemed as Konyaz speak such respectful and somewhat humble words to him, Taylor felt a chill throughout his body.

He was a veteran in the political arena of the Royal Court, and for Konyaz to make such a statement, what could it mean?

It’s about risking life, truly risking life.

“I will not fail the trust placed in me.” Taylor focused his expression from earlier and spoke with utmost seriousness.

Konyaz left, continuing to soothe Serafe and gather the soldiers.

Meanwhile, Taylor silently began calculating the time.

In the saddle-shaped depression in the middle, although the artillery positions were being harassed, at least half of the cannons were still usable.

The first defense line consisted of nine bunkers and four trenches, with countless low walls in between, enough to intercept the cavalry.

The second line was narrower but roughly equivalent.

The third line was even narrower but had more bunkers built because behind the third line lay Serafe’s camp.

The three defense lines could delay the enemy troops for at least thirty minutes.

And with the support of artillery fire, if the artillerymen could finally use their brains and eyes instead of focusing on personal gains, they could hold for at least twenty minutes.

The remaining ten minutes would depend solely on these five to six thousand clansmen.

Gripping the hilt of his sword tightly, Taylor immediately issued an order, commanding the entire army to be on alert and await the arrival of the Holy Alliance army.

After much consideration, he decided to take the initiative first, harassing the enemy forces; it was essential to seize some control of the battlefield.

Disrupting part of the enemy’s mindset from the very beginning was a good choice and a tactic Taylor had tried and tested many times.

Of course, he wouldn’t deploy large forces; instead, he picked a small group of three hundred agile vampire soldiers along with some higher-ranked vampires and had them ambush in the forest.

But they shouldn’t attack the main forces; rather, they should fiercely harass the flank of the Holy Alliance army.

After all, the Holy Alliance army was already advancing at full speed to approach quickly, with no time for detailed reconnaissance.

Having received the orders, more than three hundred vampires quickly descended and dispersed within the woods and shrubs ahead of the first defense line.

The ground tremors grew louder and louder, and all the lurking vampires waited for the signal, the signal to charge.

However, amid the footsteps, they seemed to hear other sounds, growing louder and sharper.

What was that sound?

It sounded like a buzzing bee, magnified countless times, and even accompanied by the sharp cracking of stone slabs.

Hidden among the shrubs, the vampire soldiers looked up as a shadow covered their entire body; even though the giant beast merely passed by, it left them immobilized.

For a moment, the battlefield fell silent, and the next second was filled with the almost screaming orders of frontline vampire officers, “Fire! Quick, fire!”

Amid the explosive bursts of bronze bullets, soldiers frantically emptied the lead bullets from their blood pact muskets.

But this couldn’t stop the giant beast’s footsteps; it continued to advance.

Standing before the second defense line, seeing that enormous thing appearing, Taylor almost stood frozen in place.

What kind of colossus was this!

It was approximately three meters high, over six meters long, and more than three meters wide, resembling a giant spring machine locomotive.

But compared to the ordinary spring machines of the Holy Alliance, it had multiple layers of heavy rolled steel plates connected with dense rivets.

Through the scope, Taylor could even see countless sparks or meteors continuously emerging from this giant beast’s shell.

Whether arrows or lead bullets, they fell with clinks and clunks against the hefty armor, hardly leaving any marks.

If it left marks, that would be strange indeed; this was refined steel plate from the first steelworks of the Holy Mechanism Court, even directly taking a shell would at best bend the armor.

This was the newest military product of the Holy Alliance—Leonardo Tank, or as the Saint’s Grandson called it, the tank.

Its front was a massive plow-shaped or V-shaped grille-type metal slope.

On the metal slope were metal spikes reflecting the moonlight, roughly the length of daggers.

Rather than calling it a rock-clearing device, it’s better named cavalry-clearing device, primarily targeting those attempting to charge the tank.