Chapter 596: Pearl Defensive Line
Chapter 596: Pearl Defensive Line
Translator: TYZ Editor: X, TYZ
Atop the God-subduing Peak, everyone gazed into the distance.
The God Wolf Division had stopped 25 kilometers away from them and started to pitch camp.
"It seems we really scared Helian Tianxiao last time," Silver Soldier said while laughing.
The rest could not help but laugh as well.
The God Wolf Division was no longer as cocky as they were in the past. Now, they were very prudent. Not only did they set up defenses outside of their encampment, they also had several units patrolling the sky. The defensive structures in their encampment were built with diligence as well. Compared to last time, there was a significant increase in the number of defensive structures they built.
One could tell that the Sword of Lightning’s raid on their former encampment had greatly impacted them.
However, the smiles on everyone’s faces disappeared rapidly. The more prudent the enemy, the harder the battle would be.
The elementalists possessed an absolute numerical advantage. There were the Spear of Heavy Cloud, the Infantry Division, the Sky Edge Division, the Sword of Lightning, and the Pagoda Cannon Alliance. Furthermore, with the defensive line behind their backs, they could keep on replenishing their manpower. Meanwhile, the God Wolf Division and the Silver Frost Blood Division only had a total of 10,000 troops.
It was a pity that a battle did not solely depend on the number of soldiers.
The blood elementalists’ strength far surpassed theirs.
The Sword of Lighting was rather powerful, but there was only one Pinwheel Sword, and they only had a few hundred men. The most powerful combat division was the Spear of Heavy Cloud. Its strength was comparable to the blood elementalists, but it had suffered heavy casualties during the last battle and had to replenish their manpower with many rookies. Their offensive strength had decreased significantly. Then again, when one considered the fact that they had God-subduing Peaks and were fighting a defensive battle, they should be able to contend with the blood elementalists.
The Sky Edge Division and the Infantry Division were traditional combat divisions. Their strength paled in comparison to the Spear of Heavy Cloud. Nonetheless, since they had God-subduing Peaks and were fighting a defensive battle this time around, they could definitely put up a good fight against the blood elementalists as well.
As for the Pagoda Cannon Alliance, its members were not even proficient in using the pagoda cannons yet. They simply would not be of any help in the battle.
Of course, the terrain was still advantageous for the elementalists, consisting of a narrow passageway. If it weren’t for the Windy Pearl Bridge’s unique terrain, Ai Hui felt that they should just forsake this battlefield and escape.
Jiang Wei furrowed his eyebrows and said, "They are waiting for the other two god division forces."
Everyone felt distressed. The more cautious and prepared the enemy was, the more stress they felt.
The God Wolf Division and the Silver Frost Blood Division had a total of 10,000 men. The God Tiger Division army and the God Devil Division army had 15,000 men each. If the other two god division forces arrived in time, they would have a total of 40,000 men.
The feeling of facing 10,000 men and the feeling of facing 40,000 men were completely different. The former made them feel confident in winning the defensive battle. The latter, however, made them feel despair, especially when the enemy’s strength far surpassed theirs.
"At this stage, we shouldn’t expect the other party to make any mistakes. They need time, and we need time," Ai Hui said.
The rest nodded their heads. Once the Pagoda Cannon Alliance members could operate the pagoda cannons proficiently, they would definitely be a great asset for the elementalists. This was the advantage of being on the defensive. The difficulty of operating the pagoda cannons on the God-subduing Peaks was much lower than having to engage in close quarters combat.
Everyone was heavy-hearted. No one felt confident that they could win this defensive battle.
Even though none of them were confident in victory, their morale wasn’t as low as it was in the past. The Sword of Lightning’s raid on the God Wolf Division’s encampment had debunked the myth of invincible blood elementalist combat divisions and had a significant positive impact on the elementalists’ morale. Nothing was more devastating to an army’s morale than being unable to deal any damage to the enemy.
Nowadays, even though the elementalists at the front line knew their probability of winning the battle was very low, they still could make the blood elementalists pay a devastating price.
The atmosphere suddenly became tense.
While Ai Hui and his counterparts were observing the encampment of the God Wolf Division, Helian Tianxiao, Song Xiaoqian, and their counterparts were observing the elementalists’ defensive line as well.
The magnificent metal wind curtain was a colossal wall that linked the heaven and earth together, blocking their line of sight. In the middle of the wind curtain, there was a small air tunnel. In the past, there were many such tunnels created by the naturally formed bridges. They used to resemble a string of pearls, which was how the Windy Pearl Bridges got their name. Eventually, the other bridges were destroyed and this air tunnel was the only one left.
The bridge had a width of 2.5 kilometers. The metal winds rose from the rift below to the two sides of the bridge and then converged at a point 1.5 kilometers above the bridge. This was how the 2.5 kilometers wide and 1.5 kilometers tall tunnel was formed above the bridge.
There were three God-subduing Peaks hovering above this bridge. Every now and then, the God-subduing Peaks would flicker and glow.
"It’s so spectacular. The Elders Guild is incompetent and feckless. Only their God-subduing Peaks can be considered a peerless invention," Song Xiaoqian exclaimed in admiration.
"Not only the God-subduing Peaks, but the arrangement of their defensive line is at a high standard as well," Helian Tianxiao said with a wary look on his face.
The generals around Helian Tianxiao were veterans who had rich war experience. At this point in time, all of them had solemn looks on their faces.
When they saw the elementalists’ defensive line, they felt vexed. These three God-subduing Peaks formed a balanced inverted triangle.
The Spear of Heavy Cloud was positioned at the top left and furthest back. Hellfire Pagoda Cannons could unleash powerful long-range attacks from this position.
The Infantry Division was situated below at the position closest to the ground and most forward. They would be the first line of defense. Their soldiers specialized in close quarters combat, and their main task was to withstand enemy soldiers who broke through the defensive line.
The Sky Edge Division was situated on the right side. They were positioned higher than the Infantry Division and lower than the Spear of Heavy Cloud. They were also closer to the Infantry Division so that they could provide reinforcement to the latter if needed.
In the center of these three God-subduing Peaks, there was nothing but darkness, resembling a gateway to hell.
Everyone knew that a huge number of pagoda cannons were certainly stationed in the darkness. Attacking this area would cause them to face a devastating retaliation.
The three God-subduing Peaks had sealed the small air tunnel tightly.
What would happen if they attacked the God-subduing Peaks head-on? After the Battle of the Wall of the North Sea, they knew how terrible this decision would be. However, the unique terrain of the Windy Pearl Bridge only allowed them to attack the God-subduing Peaks.
For the past few days, they had been thinking about how to break through the defensive line, but every plan required a hefty price.
"Should we wait for the God Tiger Division army and the God Devil Division army to arrive?" a general spoke up.
"The God Tiger Division army and the God Devil Division army are hunting down the Judgement and Dread divisions. Right now, the most important thing to do is to save General Ye. The rest aren’t important," Helian Tianxiao explained.
"So we are the only ones?" Even Song Xiaoqian was overwhelmed with shock.
The other generals froze.
"That’s right. The situation will be terrible if we can’t save General Ye. However, if the Dread and Judgement divisions bring General Ye back to Skyheart City, the situation will be even worse. It will be completely over for us then. We can’t solely depend on bum known as He Nanshan. The God Tiger Division army and the God Devil Division army have to go and save General Ye. If it weren’t for the fact that we are far away from them, we would have reinforced them as well."
"But we only have 10,000 men…"
Everyone’s face turned extremely ugly. With only 10,000 men, no one had the confidence to break through the horrifying defensive line.
"Don’t worry, when I received the news from He Nanshan, I immediately sent for the beast battalions," Helian Tianxiao assured them.
Upon hearing these words, the tense faces loosened up. Every god division had four beast battalions. Every beast battalion had 10,000 men, and all of them were reserves for the god divisions and the blood divisions. The soldiers of a beast battalion weren’t powerful, but they could bolster the numbers. They were very suitable for sieging defensive positions.
With the 40,000 men from the beast battalions, everyone felt confident regarding the future battle.
Helian Tianxiao saw the facial expressions of every general and sighed in his heart. He wasn’t worried about this siege battle, but was instead worried about why His Majesty had not reacted to this incident yet.
Compared to His Majesty getting angry, Helian Tianxiao was more scared when His Majesty did not have any reactions.
However, Helian Tianxiao’s face remained calm. He snorted, "No matter how costly the price we have to pay, we have to overrun the Windy Pearl Bridge and invade Skyheart City!"
This was their only chance.
To survive, everyone else had placed their hopes on saving General Ye. Helian Tianxiao, however, placed his hopes on obtaining a victory in this battle. As long as they could take down this defensive line, they would have a smooth road ahead. Beyond Avalon had no other powerful combat divisions except for the Surveillance Division.
Once he reached Skyheart City and forced the Ye family to submit to him, he might be able to avert disaster with this merit.
Helian Tianxiao’s decision was to try to atone for his mistake with a meritorious deed.
He wasn’t sure whether or not this would work. No one knew what His Majesty was thinking, but this was his only chance.
The probability of successfully razing Skyheart City to the ground was higher than the probability of successfully saving General Ye.
The generals knew that this was the only way. All of them replied solemnly, "Yes!"
"By sunset, our encampment should be completed. Have a good rest tonight. From tomorrow onward, we will attack them in small waves to get a feel for their defenses," Helian Tianxiao instructed.
"Yes!"
…..
The next morning.
Ai Hui was roused awake by the sounds of battle. He was slightly surprised. Had the enemy’s reinforcements arrived?
After a while, he saw Iron Lady, so he asked shockingly, "Aren’t you guys fighting? Why are you here?"
Shi Xueman shook her head and replied, "It’s just a small attack wave. They are trying to probe our defenses."
A look of realization dawned upon Ai Hui’s face. What the enemy did made perfect sense.
Shi Xueman blinked her eyes and said, "I let Fatty use the old Hellfire Pagoda Cannons."
Ai Hui acted as if he was resigned, "Haaah, even our Iron Lady knows how to deceive people. This world is really hopeless."
He was looking forward to seeing the enemy forces face the Beehive Heavy Cannons when they attacked the defensive line head-on. They would been in for a huge surprise.
When Shi Xueman saw Ai Hui reclining on the bed, she said, "I don’t think it’s right for the Commander-in-chief to lie in bed right now."
"I am injured, and the most important mission for the injured is to rest and recover. Is the sun out? Basking in sun helps the body to recover faster," Ai Hui replied lazily.
"That’s true."
Shi Xueman nodded her head and walked toward the Ai Hui’s bed.
Ai Hui froze. After a while, he returned to his senses as a premonition arose in his heart. "Hey, hey, hey, what are you doing? What are you trying to do?"
Shi Xueman picked Ai Hui up from his bed and carried him in her arms. As she walked toward tent exit, she said, "I am bringing you out to bask in the sunlight."
"Let me down! Let me down!" Ai Hui’s voice was filled with fear. To him, the exit of the tent resembled the gateway to hell. He tried to struggle, but his weak and frail body lacked the strength to escape from Iron Lady’s evil clutches.
"Let me down! I can walk on my own!"
"Big Sister, Big Sister, Iron Lady… No, no, no… Xueman…"
"Both of us are notable individuals. If there’s anything you’re unhappy with, we can talk about it. Don’t just resort to violence!"
"Hey, hey, hey, I still owe you money. Do you still want me to pay you the money or not?"
"All right! All right! All right! I will pay you back the money! That’s not what I really meant. Do you really think I am that kind of person? Hey, hey, hey, put me down first…"
Shi Xueman turned a deaf ear to Ai Hui and continued to stride toward the exit of the tent with him in her arms.
The sunlight was dazzling. Ai Hui’s exceptional sensory perception allowed him to sense that his surroundings were quickly becoming silent.
He shut his eyes, completely disheartened.
It was over!