Otherworld Advance Team
Chapter 1444 - 1437: Both Camps are Defeated

Chapter 1444: Chapter 1437: Both Camps are Defeated

Yichuan Long’s face turned livid as he watched the dire situation on the battlefield. He was well aware that the forward battalion alone could not withstand the attack of the Demon Clan’s army.

Although he had defeated the Demon Clan’s army once before, he still underestimated the combat strength of the Demon Clan’s infantry.

It was true that every gain had its loss: the Demon Clan’s infantry, equipped with advanced firearms, should have been more fearful of close combat.

However, in reality, Yichuan Long’s thinking was clearly limited by the era, because the progress of the Demon Clan’s army was comprehensive, not simply a matter of upgraded firearms. More importantly, a whole set of tactics revolving around advanced firearms had been reasonably applied.

No one had decreed that infantry using firearms could not engage in close combat, and in fact, the opposite was true; these infantry needed not only to train in shooting but also in close combat.

Moreover, because of the ongoing reduction in armor, their defensive capabilities were further weakened. In such circumstances, they would strive to improve their close combat skills to avoid being killed.

Both sides thus fell into a stalemate, the Demon Clan’s infantry, though few in number, had high morale and strict discipline, which endowed them with tremendous combat strength.

In contrast, the Nine Thousand Battalion, with its reinforcements blocked by barrage, was almost fighting a desperate battle. Although they currently outnumbered the Demon Clan’s infantry, the enemy troops were not blocked and could continually receive reinforcements from the rear.

The tug-of-war continued for about two hours without a decisive outcome, but it was clear that the Nine Thousand Battalion was beginning to falter, showing signs of collapse.

The Demon Clan’s army maintained high-intensity cannon fire. However, these early cannons could not compare in firing rate and power with Earth’s modern cannons, and could only block large formations from entering, while some scattered fleeing soldiers could still evade.

Accompanied by the melancholic sound of horns, the Demon Clan’s troops fought more and more bravely, and the battle intensified.

But as wave after wave of troops was continuously replenished at the front line, the number of the Demon Clan’s troops clearly began to dominate, and at this point, the Nine Thousand Battalion showed a clear decline.

These conscripted soldiers were not the elite forces of the Nine Thousand Battalion, and whether in combat power or morale, they were inferior to the true Nine Thousand Battalion troops, so their defeat was just a matter of time.

As the battle continued, at about two and a half hours, the Nine Thousand Battalion was the first to falter, experiencing a massive retreat. The supervising officers tried to stop the deserters from fleeing, only to be counterattacked by their own men. Thus, the front line of the Nine Thousand Battalion collapsed like a house of cards, scattering back like ants from an exploded nest.

Faced with this situation, Yichuan Long, though displeased, did not panic. He immediately ordered the central army to form a shield wall on the battlefield, creating a barrier to prevent the scattered troops from disrupting the organization of the rear.

Seeing the Shield Wall set up in the rear, the deserters naturally ran around it rather than crashing directly into it. Of course, some stubborn individuals ran straight into the Shield Wall, and Yichuan Long showed no mercy, ordering the soldiers to stab them to death with long spears.

After this series of maneuvers, the Nine Thousand Battalion miraculously maintained its formation despite the disarray in the forward camp, with the central army beginning to replace the front and advance into the battlefield.

On the other side, the Demon Clan’s infantry also displayed discipline beyond Yichuan Long’s expectations. In less than twenty minutes, they had reorganized their ranks, replaced the front line troops who had been fighting for over two hours with reserve troops, completed the changeover in lineup, and reformed their troops.

Both sides began to slowly engage, and of course, it was the Demon Clan’s army that took the initiative to advance. When both sides reached a firing range of a hundred meters, facing the muzzle of the enemy’s guns, the soldiers of the Nine Thousand Battalion felt a tingling on their scalps.

The Demon Clan’s army fired another volley, and cannons from the rear continued to bombard the Nine Thousand Battalion’s ranks. Thus, the Nine Thousand Battalion again suffered unilateral casualties, under the onslaught of musket fire and cannon fire, they could not hold out for long.

Yichuan Long took a deep breath, knowing it was time to make a decision again, whether to let the central army charge forward recklessly like the vanguard, or to advance in formation; it all depended on him.

However, it had already been proven that charging forward with individual bravery wouldn’t solve any problems because these soldiers were brave, but the soldiers of the Demon Clan were even braver. Moreover, once the charging troops were blocked by the Demon Clan’s artillery, they would become isolated, enduring the constant reinforcements from the Demon Clan’s troops.

This time, Yichuan Long planned to try advancing in formation. He glanced at the sky, where dark clouds crowded the horizon, creating a pressure that felt both oppressive and uncomfortable, mirroring his current mood.

At his command, the central army of the Nine Thousand Battalion began to advance steadily. However, it was proven that without equipment like the Demon Clan’s, emulating the Demon Clan’s firing squad formations was futile, as it only led to the Nine Thousand Battalion’s soldiers taking the brunt of the Demon Clan’s volleys.

Facing the organized advance of the Nine Thousand Battalion, the infantry of the Demon Clan became even more excited, as with closer distances, their accuracy with muskets improved.

For every ten meters the Nine Thousand Battalion advanced, the accuracy of the Demon Clan’s infantry improved by at least ten percent. Once the Nine Thousand Battalion moved within the standard range of the Demon Clan’s troops, the power of the muskets was maximized.

Even though they were only Flintlock guns, the Demon Clan’s army had improved the gunpowder formula and bullet materials, making the muskets much more lethal. Almost every volley took down a whole row of the Nine Thousand Battalion’s soldiers.

Moreover, the Demon Clan’s cavalry roamed the battlefield, actively hunting potential officers, disrupting the Nine Thousand Battalion’s command system, accelerating its collapse.

It was proven that the strategy of advancing in formation, when faced with the powerful muskets of the Demon Clan’s army, was entirely to their advantage. In spite of the heavy casualties, the gains of the Nine Thousand Battalion were not much more than those obtained from charging.

Under the fire of muskets and artillery, the Nine Thousand Battalion faced collapse again, and the central army began to disperse.

By then, both waves of defense by the Nine Thousand Battalion had ended in failure, with at least five thousand men wounded or killed in this battle, while the casualties on the Demon Clan’s side were merely a fifth of that of the Nine Thousand Battalion.

However, for Yichuan Long, such losses were not too severe, as most of those lost were temporarily conscripted soldiers. The true elite of the Nine Thousand Battalion remained motionless, quietly waiting for the moment to strike.

But these consecutive failures also made Yichuan Long realize the strength of the Demon Clan, a strength that even overturned his perception of the Demon Clan’s military.

He had never imagined that the Demon Clan, composed entirely of ordinary people, could be so formidable, and he began to understand why the Dongsheng army had been utterly defeated.

Beyond the reasons inherent to the Dongsheng army itself, the most critical factor was the profoundly strong reorganized Demon Clan’s army. Over the years, the Dongsheng army had mostly faced defeats, and being completely overrun seemed only logical.

After defeating two battalions consecutively, the morale of the Demon Clan reached its peak, and they began to advance steadily, eagerly seeking a decisive battle with the main force of the Nine Thousand Battalion.

Meanwhile, Yichuan Long, organizing a new resistance, also kept observing the sky, as if expecting something.

The urgent offense of the Demon Clan and the hesitation of Yichuan Long stemmed from the same reason, the increasingly gloomy sky. For the Demon Clan, it might result in their efforts being wasted. For Yichuan Long, it would be an opportunity to turn defeat into victory.

Perhaps answering Yichuan Long’s hopes, thunder rumbled in the clouds overhead, and alongside the thunder, raindrops the size of beans began to fall on the battlefield.

Feeling the raindrops hit his armor, Yichuan Long’s spirits lifted, knowing that the chance to counterattack had arrived.