Chapter 988: The First Victory on the Plain
Cannon No. 6 was the one Van’er had personally inspected before the attack. It sat at the far end of the battlement, and although it had taken two rounds of thrown spears, it was practically unmarked compared to the cannons the Devilbeasts had knocked over and ground into the earth. Once the crew returned to their posts, it was ready.
One minute after Van’er received the parameters, the Longsong Cannon erupted.
The target was two kilometers distant—close enough that the trajectory ran nearly flat. Both soldiers and demons heard the shell’s high whistle as it tore the air between them.
Then the demons heard the thunder.
The lord of war had returned.
At such a short distance, the cannon’s accuracy was almost surgical. The first shell landed squarely beside the crawling monster and detonated. The shockwave lifted the colossal body and flipped it over, blew the stone shell apart, and exposed the living tissue underneath. The Mad Demons clustered in its shadow for protection were taken as well—they had tucked themselves beneath the giant spider’s limbs to hide from the mortar fire, and they were still there when the blast wave ripped through. It transmitted through the crawling monster’s body and into theirs, crushing organs and bones as cleanly as a vice. When the scene settled, nothing moved.
“We made it!” Sylvie’s fist cut the air. “Next target—12′ 6″, 2,480 meters!”
“No problem. Ready in a minute!”
Meanwhile, the demons who had endured the unrelenting mortar barrage finally closed to within a kilometer of the battlement.
Everyone braced for the charge.
The demons stopped.
The whole sequence had taken less than ten minutes. The Mad Demon at the very front had come within 500 meters of the Northbound Slope, within sight of the first barbed-wire line.
He moved no further.
Without the Devilbeasts to suppress them, every machine gun squad—anti-aircraft emplacements included—trained their barrels on the massed enemy. The battlefield broke into continuous thunder.
The First Army’s equipment had improved enormously since Coldwind Ridge. Back then, HMGs had been deployed with surgical caution, their numbers limited, reserved only for the most pressing targets. Now there were no such restrictions—they could fire at any distance, at any target, without rationing the shots. This kind of unscrupulous abundance in ammunition was unlikely to be offered twice, but it was on offer today.
The zone within 500 meters of the trench became the sniper teams’ hunting ground.
Normally, a Mad Demon could breach barbed wire without effort—they could jump the fence or simply uproot the poles. But doing so required standing still, and standing still in front of top-notch snipers was both bold and fatal.
When the demons discovered they could not close to throwing range, something in them shifted—not discipline breaking but cornered-beast instinct taking over. It was not the desperation of soldiers standing their ground; it was the wild thrashing of animals that knew they were surrounded. Thousands of them died in the open around the defensive line before the remainder turned and pulled back, quickly. The machine guns did not stop the entire time. The barrels turned red.
Compared to the brutal fight at the rear, the front had been almost quiet.
Sylvie allowed herself to breathe.
She had perhaps been the only person, across the whole engagement, to understand the precise weight of the moment when the first cylinder launched and the first mortar volley answered each other in the air. At that point, the last two crawling monsters had been spinning up their magic spirals, building to full charge. The No. 1 and No. 3 Longsong Cannons had come back online in the same interval—seconds to spare, not minutes—and ended it before the second salvo fell.
Two or three seconds later, and the stone needles would have come down again.
But they had not. Mankind had won. For the first time in four hundred years, they stood on this land and had beaten the demons back from it.
Roland received the detailed report four days later.
The scale of the dead had delayed everything—it took the First Army considerable time to clean the battlefield. Following instructions from the Taquila witches, all demon bodies had to be burned before the magic stones could be stripped. Collecting the stones was not optional. The battle was not technically over until every stone was recovered; left behind, the demons would find a way to recycle them, embedding the power into new warriors.
The final count was astonishing. Approximately six thousand demons killed—more than the entire force the First Army had fielded in the engagement.
Fewer than half had been killed directly by machine guns or cannon fire. Most had run out of Red Mist on the retreat and died before they reached safety.
This did not mean the demons had been unprepared. During the post-battle sweep, the First Army found dozens of Siege Beasts that had been converted into transport carriers—and that number excluded those blasted to fragments. If the battle had gone differently, if the humans had been driven back, the demons could have slowly recharged their mist tanks and withdrawn in good order. Their swift defeat had made that impossible. There was not enough Red Mist on any demon in the field to carry them from the front back to the Taquila ruins.
“If I remember correctly, witches can operate Siege Beasts as well?” Roland said through the Sigil of Listening.
“That’s right. They’re essentially mobile magic stones.” Zooey cut in. “With a little training, any witch can handle one. They’re slow, but they can carry a great deal. The Union used them for long-distance transport in place of mules and horses.”
Roland made a mental note to hand them to the Ministry of Construction. The construction teams were always short on transport, and for city work, slow was not a flaw.
The recovered Magic Stones of Tossing were a different matter—a shame, but unavoidable. They were exclusive to demonic users; without a magic being to channel them, the stones were inert. The First Army gathered them all and destroyed them.
“One more thing,” Roland said. “How did the enemies move past Sylvie’s surveillance?”
“I’ll answer that.” Agatha cleared her throat. “After the battle, we searched the entire outpost and found an underground tunnel connecting to a cave two kilometers out. Inside the cave was an underground encampment the demons had built—a mist storage tower, a God’s Stone of Retaliation Pillar. The encampment was larger than the outpost above it. We were all deceived completely.”
Roland’s brows drew together. “A God’s Stone of Retaliation large enough to cover an entire encampment?”
“Nearly five meters in diameter,” Agatha said slowly. “Ten meters tall. The surface is as smooth as a freshly cleaved icicle. I’ve never seen anything like it—not even in the Union age. If I hadn’t stood in front of it myself, I wouldn’t have believed it was real.”
Chapter 988: The First Victory on the Plain
Translator: TransN Editor: TransN
The No. 6 Longsong Cannon was the one Van’er inspected prior to the attack. It was located at the far end of the battlement. Although it had received two rounds of spears, it was practically unscathed compared to the cannons the Devilbeasts tipped over. Once the soldiers were back in action, it could resume its function.
A minute after Van’er received the parameters, the Longsong Cannon ejected flames in the given direction!
As the target was two kilometers away, the trajectory of the shell was quite low. Both the soldiers and demons had heard the bullet’s whooshing as it whistled pass.
The only difference was that the demons heard an earsplitting thunder right after!
The formidable lord of war had been revived!
Due to the short distance between the large-caliber cannon and the enemy, its firing accuracy had significantly improved. The first shell had landed right beside the crawling monster. It generated a shockwave which flipped the monster’s colossal body over, blowing away its shell and exposing the flesh underneath.
The group of Mad Demons which happened to be beside the crawling monster were killed along with it.
From the Mad Demons’ positions, one could tell that they were deployed at that location to prevent a raid from the witches. Unfortunately though, they were deterred by the mortars. Left with no choice, they hid beneath the “giant spider”, taking refuge from the flying shells behind its stone limbs.
Nonetheless, this act was pointless. They had still suffered from blast waves which transmitted through the crawling monster.
The shockwaves completely crushed the Mad Demons’ inner organs and bones as it rippled through their bodies. By the time the scene became tranquil, the explosions were replaced with littered demon bodies.
“We made it!” Sylvie exclaimed as she swung her fist. “The next target is… 12′ 6”, 2,480 meters from here!”
“No problem. Will be ready in a minute!”
Meanwhile, the demons who endured the pain of constantly being blasted by the mortars were finally within one kilometer of the battlement.
Just when everyone thought it was time to battle, the enemies had suddenly stopped.
The whole process was less than 10 minutes.
The Mad Demon at the very front had approached within 500 meters of the Northbound Slope where the first line of barbed wire stood.
But he moved no further.
Without the interference of the Devilbeasts, all the machine gun squads, including the anti-aircraft machine gun squad, aimed at the enemies who swarmed in.
The whole battlefield stirred up.
The First Army’s equipment was currently much better than when they had fought at Coldwind Ridge. Back then, HMGs were deployed in the blockhouse with great caution due to its limited number. They were used
exclusively for attacking targets that posed the biggest threat. Now, the First Army no longer had any restrictions on their access to firearms and were allowed to shoot enemies at any distance. However, such an “unscrupulous” usage of ammunition was very likely to be a one time offer only.
The area within 500 meters of the trench became the hunting ground of the sniper team.
Usually, the demons would not have any difficulties getting through the barbed wire as they could easily jump over the fence or uproot the wooden poles.
But since their opponents were a group of top-notch snipers, these actions would be very bold and stupid to do.
When the demons found out that they could not close-in to the spearing range, they went wild. This action was not a form of military discipline or a display of soldiers’ morale, it was more like the desperate struggle cornered beasts.
After thousands of demons died around the defensive line, the enemies started receding quickly. During the whole process, the First Army’s machine guns had never stopped firing. The barrels had turned completely red hot.
Compared to the intense fight at the rear, the front seemed to be relatively placid.
Sylvie finally felt relieved. She was perhaps the only person who understood the graveness of the situation when the “duel” between the two parties started. The last two crawling monsters had their magic spirals filled with magic power and were just about to strike. At the same time, the No. 1 and No. 3 Longsong Cannons were just fixed and had thus saved everybody.
Had it been two or three seconds later, the stone pillar would have caused more substantial injuries to the First Army.
Nevertheless, human beings had won the battle. Mankind were once again setting foot on this long-forgotten land. They had finally defeated the demons for the first time in 400 years.
…
Roland received the detailed report four days later.
Due to the large number of the dead bodies, it took the First Army a considerable amount of time to clean the battlefield. Based on the instructions from the Taquila witches, they had to first burn the demons’ bodies before taking away their magic stones.
Collecting magic stones was particularly important. The battle did not technically end until they had stripped the demons of the magic stones. If demons, by some means or another, retrieved these magic stones, they would soon recycle it by using it on new demons.
The final result was astonishing. There were around 6,000 demons killed in action, more than the total number of the First Army who had participated in the war.
Less than half of the demons were directly killed by machine guns or cannons. Most of them had died on their way as they ran out of Red Mist.
However, this did not mean that the demons were not fully prepared for this war. During the post-war clean-up, the First Army had found dozens of Siege Beasts that had been transformed into transportation tools. This number had not even included those blasted to pieces. The demons could have slowly recharged the mist tanks if the human beings had been in a disadvantageous position. However, their swift defeat had completely sabotaged this plan. It was impossible for the demons to retreat to the Taquila ruins from their outpost by relying on the meager amount of Red Mist they carried on hand.
“If I remember correctly, witches can also control those Siege Beasts, right?” Roland asked through the Sigil of Listening.
“That’s right. Those beasts are essentially magic stones. With just a little bit of training, witches can also handle them.” Zooey cut in. “Although they’re a bit slow, they can carry lots of things. The Union used to use them for longdistance transportation instead of regular mules and horses.”
Roland thought it would be a good idea to have them managed by the Ministry of Construction as the construction team was currently in need of some transportation tools. For city transportation, the slow speed was actually preferred.
Although there were tons of Magic Stones of Tossing, it was a shame they were of little use. These stones were exclusive to demons because they could only exert their power when connected to a magic being. Thus, the First Army could only collect these stones together and destroy them.
“By the way, how did the enemies escape Sylvie’s surveillance?”
“Let me answer that for you,” said Agatha as she cleared her throat. “After the battle ended, we searched the entire outpost and found an underground tunnel connecting to a cave two kilometers away. In the cave, we discovered an underground campsite built by the demons where not only was there a mist storage tower but also a God’s Stone of Retaliation Pillar. The campsite was even larger than the outpost itself. This was their real stronghold. We were indeed all deceived.”
Roland drew his brows together and asked, “A God’s Stone of Retaliation that covers the whole campsite?”
“Correct,” Agatha said slowly. “It’s nearly five meters in diameter and 10 meters high. The surface is as smooth as a clean-cut icicle. I’ve never seen something like that before, not even back in the Union age. If I didn’t see it myself, I would have never believed it.”