Otherworld Advance Team
Chapter 1240 - 1233: Remnants of the Bailong Clan

Chapter 1240: Chapter 1233: Remnants of the Bailong Clan

These weapons were capable of striking the enemy’s depths with precision, meaning that once a war broke out, enemy soldiers would be annihilated by missiles at their locations even before they had a chance to get out of bed. This is the terrifying aspect of long-range warfare.

When Earth’s military forces originally invaded the Otherworld, they were actually exploiting the inequality in line-of-sight between the two sides. They intended to use their technological advantage through long-range warfare to deal with the Otherworld Allied Army, which was still engaged in line-of-sight battles.

However, the outcome was predictable. The magic of the Otherworld weakened Earth’s military’s long-range advantage and enhanced the line-of-sight advantage of the Otherworld armies. Thus, the advantages of both sides reached a basic balance at that time. With the Earth’s military command in disarray, it was only natural that they were completely annihilated.

The war Luo’er and his companions were facing now was an undisputed line-of-sight battle. The enemy general was only fifty meters away. At this distance, anyone proficient with a submachine gun could take out the challenging general with a single shot.

Since it was a line-of-sight battle, although the enemy force was only a mere ten thousand, it still appeared incredibly imposing. Standing atop the city wall, Luo’er could see a sea of people in the distance, soldiers clad in armor formed neat rows, with the banners fluttering and plumes bristling.

Those who have never fought a war find it hard to grasp the concept of ten thousand people, not knowing how many ten thousand really is, often feeling that it’s only satisfactory to add ’ten thousand’ when hearing about the enemy casualties.

But actually, ten thousand is quite significant. Moreover, they were all combat troops. The modern military structures a corps with just over ten thousand people. The battle originally fought in Lipei involved just over ten thousand from both sides and was still hailed as an epic victory.

Especially in line-of-sight battles, the advantage of such numbers is particularly evident since the fighting parties are very close, making the strength of the opposing force visibly clear.

However, Luo’er didn’t have to worry because, according to Zisu, this army of the Dongsheng Empire was just the vanguard. Ten thousand may seem a lot, but it’s barely enough to surround the city, let alone assault it. Moreover, they had just arrived at the city and had no time to build siege equipment, so assaulting was impossible.

In line-of-sight wars or ancient wars, whenever the defenders built city walls, the attackers either had to construct siege equipment or climb the walls under heavy casualties.

The organization of ancient wars was inferior to modern wars; thus, the morale of the troops was extremely important. Heavy casualties could drastically reduce morale. Once morale dwindled to a certain level, the attackers could disperse even without the defenders launching a counterattack.

This was why sieges were always so difficult to conduct. Notably, during the Three Kingdoms period, when Prime Minister Zhuge Liang of the Shu Han Dynasty led his troops northward, they were almost unbeatable in field battles, but they notably suffered at Chen Cang, defended by Hao Zhao. After more than twenty days of continuous assault without success.

This illustrates the trouble with siege battles. Therefore, to conduct a siege, one must first have sufficient troops, usually several times more than the defenders.

The Strategy Chapter in the Art of War states, surround them with ten, attack them with five. Although this pertains to field battles, the number of troops needed for a siege can only be greater, not less. Historically, the best tactic for a siege was to drag it out until the enemies inside the city starved to death.

This is why in ancient wars, military commanders on both sides tried their best to avoid sieges if field battles could be fought. Even if the enemy was inside a city, they would hope to lure them out and form battle lines.

However, the form of warfare in the East Continent had quite a flavor of the Romance in it. With generals present, even though both sides had already formed their ranks, a round of dueling between leading generals would first take place.

According to Zisu, the most exaggerated instance she had seen involved just the dueling of commanders lasting an entire day, with dozens of officers from both sides perishing, until they could no longer continue and thus sounded the retreat, agreeing to fight again the next day. Meanwhile, during this process, the soldiers of both sides hadn’t even clashed; it was merely a sideshow.

This time, the one who came to issue the challenge was a burly, dark-skinned man riding a literally high horse.

Luo’er had never seen such a large horse before; by visual estimation, this horse was at least over two meters, nearly three meters tall. When the more than two meters tall burly man sat on the horse, his feet were even more than a meter off the ground.

Although the challenger’s skin was dark, the armor he wore was multicolored, hardly low-key. His weapon was a poleaxe, almost two meters in length; it was hard to imagine how it was wielded.

After the general cursed aloud, Bai Po, riding a wild beast, arrived in front of him in less than three minutes, even without waiting for the city’s garrison to lower the drawbridge, leaping directly over the moat.

At that moment, Bai Po was clad in armor, holding a long pole weapon that somewhat resembled a Guan Dao. Beneath him was a fierce beast that at first glance, looked a bit like a tiger, except its fur bore no stripes.

Upon closer inspection, the beast had sharp, curved fangs and an exceptionally robust physique, which reminded Luo’er of the saber-toothed tiger, a creature extinct on Earth. However, the sight of a tiger-headed person riding a tiger gave off an oddly incongruous feeling, akin to a bird walking a dog.

Bai Po, mounted on the saber-toothed tiger, approached the General. The General’s steed, a tall horse, instinctively feared the beast, causing it to become restlessly agitated. Meanwhile, the General attempted to calm it while pointing at Bai Po and saying something.

"What are they talking about?" Luo’er couldn’t help but mutter to himself.

"That General wants Bai Po to dismount and fight on foot. If they fought on horseback, the General’s mount would be at a disadvantage," Zisu said with a smile.

"You can hear them?" Luo’er looked at her, somewhat surprised.

"Hmmph," Zisu grinned smugly, squinting her eyes, "What did you think? The Maoyou Clan is renowned as the Demon Clan with the strongest sensory abilities."

As she spoke, her furry ears involuntarily twitched a few times, their seemingly soft texture almost trying to tempt Luo’er to touch them.

Taken aback, Luo’er turned to look, and indeed, just as Zisu had described, after a brief conversation, they both dismounted and walked to a relatively open area to face off.

"Speaking of which, probably intimidated by Leader Bai Po’s authority, that fellow even started speaking in the Demon Clan’s language. Ha, you know, the Dongsheng people are very arrogant. They don’t care whether you understand or not, always mumbling in Kyushu language," Zisu said nonchalantly as she edged closer to Luo’er.

"What are they saying?" Luo’er glanced back at her, and out of necessity, did not move away but silently consented to her action.

"Hmm..." Zisu took the opportunity to wrap her arm around Luo’er’s, then squinting her eyes to listen, slowly spoke, "They say they want us to surrender the remnants of the Bailong Clan..."

"The Bailong Clan?" Luo’er asked, puzzled.

"You might not know," Zisu glanced at him and then explained, "The Bailong Clan are royalty in the Dongsheng Empire."

"How did the royalty of the Dongsheng Empire end up in West Outer Heaven?" Shocked, Luo’er continued to ask.

"Who knows? There are always internal conflicts within their royal family. Win and become Emperor Wu, lose and run. But we don’t have any royalty here, just some Kyushu folks who came to do business, all minor figures," Zisu said casually.

"Is their royalty always that chaotic?" Luo’er asked, somewhat astonished.

"That’s just the norm," seeing Luo’er’s baffled expression, Zisu smiled gracefully then lightly explained, "In the Dongsheng Empire, strength is most revered, so Emperor Wu definitely has to be the person with the highest cultivation. Of course, not just anyone can become Emperor Wu. Otherwise, with so many experts in all the major clans, wouldn’t the country be in chaos?"

"Therefore, within the royal family, whoever has the highest cultivation can become Emperor Wu. And competitors can also improve their cultivation to regain the position of Emperor Wu. They just need the approval of their Cabinet, and then the challenger becomes the new Emperor Wu."

"If it’s such a mess, wouldn’t the country be in chaos?" Luo’er asked, looking shocked.

"Hehe," seeing Luo’er’s eyes widen in astonishment, Zisu flashed an enchanting smile again, "Silly, in Dongsheng Empire, civil governance and martial prowess coexist. The Emperor Wu is merely a supreme symbol of the nation and does not manage state affairs. The real governance and administration of the country are handled by their Cabinet."