NOVEL WEB Chapter 22: Expedition (2)
At night, Gustav's army quickly crossed the defense line and launched an attack on the Southern Alliance.
Augustsburg stood with several of his subordinates on top of the castle, watching silently. The light from the torches cast shadows on his face.
The cold night rapidly filled with the sounds of a charging advance.
The fires in the Southern Alliance camp ignited almost simultaneously, indicating they had been prepared for this.
Richie stood in front of his tent, looking at Augustsburg on the castle top in the distance, while Augustsburg also watched him.
The troops of the Alliance started to converge madly toward Gustav's vanguard. Catapults, heavy crossbows, and various heavy weaponry were quickly deployed. Waves of arrows rained down from the sky.
In an instant, Gustav's vanguard was nearly wiped out. However, the Liches never appeared on the battlefield. The scene looked as if Richie had ambushed Augustsburg, rather than the other way around.
"Your Highness, Augustsburg!" The armored messenger hurriedly approached Augustsburg from behind and knelt on one knee, "The vanguard can't hold out any longer, there's an ambush ahead! Your Majesty seeks your instruction, should we retreat?"
Augustsburg slowly raised his head, gazing in the direction of Richie, and replied coldly, "No, continue the attack."
The messenger grew anxious, "But it's a trap, they're waiting for us to attack!"
"If he can't even solve this problem, what use is he? I didn't even ask him to achieve any results, did I?"
The messenger froze for a moment, then answered reluctantly, "Yes!"
After speaking, he turned and left.
Augustsburg glanced at the battlefield and snorted coldly, the corner of his mouth slightly raised, "Setting up an ambush right after arriving? Interesting. Still not sending in the White Bone Holy Light Court?"
Richie stood silently in front of his tent, staring right back at Augustsburg.
The minutes ticked away.
Soon, the ambush turned into a fierce face-off on the battlefield. More of Gustav's troops crossed the defense line, charging towards the Southern Alliance's forces. Faced with the sudden surge in defensive pressure, the Southern Alliance had no choice but to fight hastily.
Although Richie had ordered the construction of defenses long ago, the time was too short, and most of the fortifications were incomplete. They had to withstand Gustav's massive army attack, especially the cavalry charge.
Even Huoersi personally took up his spear and joined the fray.
Wave after wave of charges, Gustav's soldiers roared and bellowed, bodies piling up on the battlefield. Yet, Gustav's soldiers kept charging forward like lunatics.
Without a doubt, the Southern Army held the advantage, yet the scene was indeed horrifying.
Under the relentless onslaught, though the Southern Army suffered minimal casualties, their morale subtly began to waver.
"These soldiers have taken drugs." Sarina's voice echoed in Richie's mind.
"What kind of drugs?" Richie asked.
"A type of drug that eliminates fear, with severe side effects."
Richie continued to gaze calmly at Augustsburg in the distance.
Augustsburg also watched him silently, touching his chin and smiling, as if victory was within grasp.
"Something's wrong! The left defense line has been breached!" a messenger shouted, running toward Richie.
"Breached?" Richie turned his face.
The lords standing beside Richie seemed to lose their composure.
"Yes!" The messenger knelt on one knee before Richie, responding loudly, "Their cavalry has already charged into our camp! We can't stop them!"
"The left defense line..." King Allen Barnett III's face turned ashen, as his troops were stationed at the left defense line.
"Relax, it's fine." Richie looked at Barnett III and casually remarked.
Opposite them, Augustsburg seemed to be laughing even more joyfully.
...
The left-wing camp.
Gustav's maddened cavalry charged back and forth, nearly all the tents were set ablaze, and the Southern Army soldiers scattered, fleeing like lambs driven and slaughtered.
A Gustav cavalryman charged at an Allen infantryman, who hurriedly raised his spear to defend. However, his body was quickly pierced by another Gustav cavalryman from the side.
Without pause, two Gustav cavalrymen galloped toward the next battlefield.
Like a swarm of locusts, Gustav's cavalry surged back and forth, crazily expanding their gains.
In legion warfare, when the army reaches a certain size, morale becomes the most decisive factor. Clearly, the Southern Army's morale could not match that of Gustav's drug-fueled cavalry.
Meanwhile, gaps started to appear in various directions of the battle lines. Wave after wave, Gustav's soldiers crazily flooded into the breaches.
Seeing hope, Emperor Cedric V of Gustav further intensified the attack, reaching a state of hysteria.
Panic gradually began to spread.
Just when the Southern Alliance soldiers' morale was at the brink of collapse, without any warning, there was a tremendous explosion as the ground in the center of the camp burst open. A massive Undead Spider crawled out from the tunnels, spewing webbing that instantly ensnared several Gustav cavalrymen.
Immediately following, one tunnel after another broke open, unleashing countless Undead Spiders, each as big as an ox, yanking the Undead Soldiers off their horses with their webs. The most troubling part was that these spider webs were extremely sticky, clinging to everything they touched. Most cavalrymen pulled down from their horses would end up stuck to the ground, where they were then sieged and killed by the surrounding Southern Alliance soldiers.