Ember Dragon

Chapter 701 Field Battle and the Holy Guards
"Full speed ahead!"

"For the Burning Empire!"

"Within ten days, we will capture Augustus and destroy the Thracian Kingdom!"

The soldiers of the Burning Empire shouted slogans, sang loud war songs, and marched across the vast Thracian plains.

Beside them were steam tanks and armored vehicles, and above them was a fleet of airships that blocked out the sun.

The military staff had already formulated a complete set of tactical strategies. They divided the imperial army into two groups.
The Eastern Front, commanded by Duke Dror, includes six armored divisions, two air force divisions, and twelve mechanized infantry divisions, totaling 230,000 men. They will cross the Farel Mountains and attack from eastern Thrace.

The Western Front, commanded by Duke Arturo, includes eight armored divisions, three air force divisions, and nine mechanized infantry divisions, totaling 270,000 men. They will cross the Hermod River and march straight into the plains of western Thrace.

The commanders-in-chief of these two fronts were dukes who were promoted on the battlefield and were experienced and had made great military achievements.

Duke Dror is an expert at multi-domain coordinated operations. When conquering the Mountain Kingdom, he pioneered the "Three-Dimensional Canyon Tactics", combining the Air Force with special operations teams. He once annihilated the main force of the Dwarf City Defense Force with a loss ratio of 1:23.

Duke Arturo was famous for his "armored blitzkrieg" theory, and set a record of 80 kilometers per day in the Battle of North IJssel. His combat characteristics were the precise fuel and logistics support system, which could sustain a high-intensity attack for two weeks.

The two strategic fronts launched attacks on August from the east and west respectively, forcing the enemy to stretch its front line and fight on two fronts.

Judging from the map, the Empire's offensive was like the sharp claws of a giant crab, fiercely clamping towards the enemy's throat - the "City of the Rising Sun" August.

Moreover, due to the high degree of mechanization of the imperial army, its marching speed was much faster than that of ordinary armies, which could catch the Thracians off guard and make them overwhelmed.

At the same time, the Empire's Dragon Legion will also bomb various cities in the Thracian Kingdom to make them feel fear.

In addition, millions of players accepted the [War Mission: Conquer Thrace] issued by Cassius. They flocked into the Thracian region in large numbers, wandering outside the regular organization of the empire and launching indiscriminate attacks.

After devouring countless gold coins, the empire's army underwent an epoch-making development in just a few years, far exceeding the imagination of any enemy - even the three major kingdoms were no exception.

"boom!"

The artillery fire tore through the sky, raising up clouds of rubble and dust, and the morning mist in the countryside was dyed blood red.

The salvos of the Imperial artillery cluster formed an endless wall of thunder. The barrels of 300 self-propelled artillery pieces were raised simultaneously under the drive of hydraulic devices, like a mechanical behemoth spreading its iron fangs.

In the distant positions, the Thracian defenders suffered heavy casualties, and charred limbs were often flying everywhere.

The Thracian noble officer Kane Irving grabbed the artillery commander by the collar and lifted him up, roaring heart-wrenchingly amid the sound of cannon fire, his face was hideous and saliva was flying.

"Where are our artillery? Didn't His Majesty Wilham buy you two hundred heavy artillery pieces? Did you pocket all of them? Fight back!"

The artillery commander hurriedly explained: "Sir, they are too far away and we can't hit them at all. Once we open fire, our artillery positions will be exposed and the consequences will be disastrous."

“It’s a dead body!”

Kane threw him to the ground, put a gun to his head, and shouted viciously: "The kingdom bought you the most advanced artillery! Why can't you do that? Fight back!

Coward! Coward! If you don't dare to fire, I will shoot you first and then command for you!"

With a gun pointed at his head, the artillery commander turned pale with fear and could only weakly reply, "Yes, sir."

Under the orders of their officers, the artillerymen of the Thracian Kingdom began to aim in the direction of the Imperial positions, loading ammunition and fiddling with the clumsy and crude heavy artillery that had been eliminated by the Empire for several years.

What’s funny is that according to the salesmen of the Klaube Military Industrial Group, these are the most advanced artillery pieces in the empire and the most cutting-edge products.

The artillery commander looked at the imperial army occupying the sky and the earth in the distance with despair on his face, but still raised his hand resolutely.

"Fire!"

"boom--"

At the command, artillery fire rang out.

Flames burst out from the dark muzzle of the gun, and shells shot out, drawing arcs in the sky.

But soon, the shells fired by the Thracian artillery fell weakly on the hillside, creating a series of uneven and violent explosions, raising rubble and dust into the sky.

Too far.

These artillery fires were simply unable to hit the Imperials who were more than ten miles away, as this was far beyond the effective range of these "antiques".

However, the fire from the artillery salvo was keenly captured by the Imperial scouts in the distance. In just two minutes, the precise coordinates of the Thracian artillery position fell into the hands of the Imperial Artillery Corps Commander.

The battle-hardened ogre showed a ferocious smile and said disdainfully: "Stupid Thracians, you don't even know how to hide the artillery positions. You are not even worthy of using the garbage we discarded."

"Haha, they should go back to the primitive days with spears and stones."

Big Head waved his hand and ordered in a calm tone: "Tsk tsk, destroy all that scrap metal."

"Damn it! Why, why on earth!" Looking at the scene in the distance, Kane roared angrily.

"boom!"

The next moment, a shocking roar was heard in the distance, and hundreds of shells burst out, dragging graceful arcs in the sky, and fell towards the Thracian positions like a rainstorm.

"It's over. It's all over."

The artillery commander collapsed to the ground, his face pale. He raised his head and stretched out his fingers tremblingly, the firelight reflected in his pupils.

"God."

The Empire's first wave of artillery shells pierced through the clouds with a death scream. As the shells smashed vertically into the earth, the tungsten alloy warheads rubbed against the air, emitting a bright white light.

Fireballs with a diameter of nearly thirty meters bloomed like flowers from hell at the artillery positions in Thrace. The shock waves lifted up the ground along with the old heavy artillery, and the gun barrels were torn into a rain of iron filings in mid-air.

"boom--"

Immediately afterwards, a salvo of "Sky Punisher" rockets followed, and the honeycomb launch tubes poured out burning cluster bombs.

Tens of thousands of steel ball fragments formed a metal storm at a low altitude of fifty meters. The Thracian soldiers who were loading ammunition in the trenches had not even raised their heads when their bodies were pierced like fragile paper.

Kane huddled in the trench, muttering to himself: "We have never seen the weapons they use before."

He hammered the dirt wall with his only remaining arm and roared feebly: "Damn it! Those shameless Imperials deceived us!"

At this moment, a sharp scream came from above his head, like the cry of the god of death, forcing him to raise his head and look at the sky covered by thick smoke.

All I saw were black shadows flying across the sky, dropping bombs as dense as raindrops - they were the Wyvern bombing formations.

"Boom!" The thermobaric bomb exploded, and the high-temperature shock wave quickly spread, destroying everything on the land and vaporizing the broken bodies of the imperial soldiers into charred outlines.

Finally, accompanied by the trembling of the ground, more than a dozen steam tanks rolled over the hillside and charged towards Thracian's position. Infantrymen armed with submachine guns also moved quickly behind the tanks to provide fire cover.

But when they arrived at the position, they were shocked to find that under the bombardment of artillery fire, only one in ten Thracian soldiers in the position was left.

The trenches were filled with charred bodies, some still maintaining their different postures: some were loading ammunition, some were hiding in corners, and some were covering their ears.
"It seems like they are almost all dead?"

"Isn't this normal? There's a saying that goes, our army is here to clean up the battlefield."

"Are these the Thracians, the remnants of Fadlan? I can't see how they are strong. Is it worth mobilizing them like this?"

"We just need to follow orders from above. Why think so much? Isn't it better to just win the battle easily?"

At this moment, a charred hand suddenly stretched out from the pile of corpses. The officer, whose face was blown beyond recognition and horribly horrible, climbed up from the ground and said in a hoarse voice: "Damn Imperials!"

That is the commander of this army, Kane Irwin.

As a holy warrior of extraordinary level, he had extremely strong vitality and was protected by divine magic, so he actually survived this horrific bombing.

He picked up the long sword on the ground, and the broken armor on his body lit up, releasing the light of the sun. "Minions of the evil dragon, the great Majesty Amaunator will not let you go!"

With a heart-wrenching roar, the silver sword was swung, the blade light broke through the air, and a dozen unsuspecting soldiers were cut in half.

Immediately afterwards, the survivors hiding in the pile of corpses also rushed out roaring, waving their weapons and pounced on the weak imperial soldiers.

"There's a survivor here!"

"Focus all your fire!"

"That's a transcendent, quick! Kill them!"

After a brief panic, the imperial soldiers quickly organized themselves into teams of two or three, shooting at the survivors from different directions.

Flames burst out from the muzzle one after another, and bullets poured down on the paladin like a rainstorm, shattering his armor.

Kane glared, and a golden light surrounded his body, intercepting the bullets and causing them to fall to the ground.

"For Thrace! Holy Fadran!"

The holy warrior shouted, jumped high, and swung his sword, splitting the nearest imperial soldier in half vertically, including his gun.

Facing dense bullets, Kane killed indiscriminately in the crowd, killing more than 20 people in just a few minutes.

And because he was entangled with the imperial soldiers, in order to avoid killing their own soldiers, the surrounding tanks and artillery could not fire and could only pour bullets madly.

"Request fire support! There is a superhuman here!"

"Kill him with all your strength!"

Several small tracking missiles, trailing gray smoke, flew from a distance, hit the back of the holy knight, and exploded suddenly.

"boom!"

With a loud bang, Kane was blown away, his body was cut by shrapnel, and a charred bloody hole appeared on his back.

Several more metal balls exploded in the air, transforming into nets flashing with electricity, binding the holy warrior inside.

"Damn Imperials!" In the flashing lightning, Kane struggled frantically, wielding his sword, flames of anger bursting out of his body.

At this moment, a gun barrel extended from the bottom of the airship, and a series of freezing cold rays descended from the sky, hitting Kane directly in the chest.

He was frozen in place, his skin covered with a thick layer of frost, like an ice sculpture, still maintaining an angry and ferocious expression.

And around Kane, countless gun barrels, rocket launchers and even tank main gun muzzles were aimed at his head.

"boom!"

The flames engulfed the paladin, and when the smoke cleared, all that was left was a large charred pit where Cain had stood.

The half-dragon officer picked up the intercom and said, "Lord Arturo, we have occupied Hill 103 and are making good progress. We are heading towards Uriel City and will soon be able to join up with the main force."

"Tal, stay alert, there is a strong energy fluctuation near you! It is likely the main force of the Thracian Kingdom!"

"What? But we didn't find it."

"Zizzi-"

The noise of the audio being cut off was heard, and Tal's face looked a little ugly, and he couldn't help frowning.

The main force of the Thracian Kingdom?

His dragon scouts had circled the area several times but found no trace of the enemy.

At this moment, a strange singing voice came from the sky. The voice was distant and ethereal, like a hymn in a church prayer.

"The sky's feathers burn the pupils, the blazing sword splits the armor; the chants burn the forehead, the divine eyes are like torches"

"Oh no! They are above us!" The half-dragon man suddenly raised his head and saw that under the sunlight, the space flickered and twisted, and hundreds of angels with wings on their backs appeared in the sky.

"Guilty bones burn, prayers burn to rust."

They held flaming swords in both hands, with chains wrapped around their bodies, looking down at the imperial army below with indifference, and continued to sing the hymn praising Wilham.

That is the Holy Guard of the Thracian Kingdom, an army trained by Wilham himself. Its origin is extremely mysterious and is officially called the "God's Legion of the New Era" by Thracian officials.

"The sinful souls shall burn, but my Lord shall live forever."

In an instant, countless golden-red flames descended from their swords, and the light dyed the sky orange.

The flames, like divine punishment, pierced through the airship suspended in the air, turning it into a huge fireball that crashed to the ground.

At the same time, the golden flames mercilessly burned the imperial soldiers on the ground, causing them to die in painful wails.

Even tanks equipped with anti-magic armor would spontaneously combust or even explode on the spot after being bombarded by the flames.

Tal quickly hid in the bunker and shouted into the intercom: "We were ambushed! These damn Thracians used the cannon fodder legion as bait!
Anti-aircraft guns! Shoot those birdmen down for me!"

(End of this chapter)