Masked Knight
chapter-186

Chapter 186: Field Operations (1)

"Is this where we will fight the decisive battle?" Tiger looked at the line of strong defense that was ten miles long. Beyond the line of defense was what looked like endless lines of the barracks of the Empire’s army. His face was somber, with a tinge of suspicion.

Right then, the doubt in Tiger’s heart had persisted.

He was baffled when he captured Thunder City. The Duke gave up Thunder City just like that? Why did he give up that strategic point that blocked the passage of the Southern Expedition? After defending it for so many days, he just took his fierce army and withdrew from the military fortress that he had defended so steadfastly.

On the day the city was captured, Tiger had watched the Empire's Flame Warriors fight to the last man. Although these people were heathens, he had to admit that they were brave and faithful to their own religion. In the eyes of the Roland people, these people believed in the Devil.

The thirty thousand Flame Warriors were sacrificed without hesitation by the Duke. This was to facilitate the Duke's main army's safe retreat.

Thirty thousand Flame Warriors resisted for one and a half day. They had fought against wave after wave of Roland attacks until the Holy Knights finally successfully broke into Thunder City. At that time, Tiger was so moved he almost cried — he had already lost more than one hundred thousand soldiers trying to capture Thunder City.

However, when he entered the city he knew that something was wrong.

The Duke’s main army had already retreated. Only the Flame Warriors were left in the city. Even though they fought bravely to the end, they only had thirty thousand soldiers while they were fighting one hundred thousand soldiers. This was equivalent to a massacre.

The Duke of the Tulip Family had been very thorough. Thunder City was in ruins. Most of the buildings in the city had been demolished. The stones were then used as weapons for resisting the earlier Roland attacks, mostly for smashing into the Roland soldiers' heads.

Besides that, all supplies had already been removed by the Duke’s army. Food and weapons … Whatever that could not be moved or could not be moved away in time were all destroyed. Tiger did not know whether to laugh or to cry when he looked around the city and saw the broken wooden catapults.

Besides that, many places in the city were burning fiercely. There are even a few surviving Flame Warriors desperately resisting at some corners of the city.

Even though Tiger had doubts, he heaved a sigh of relief.

Regardless of whether the Duke deliberately retreated or he retreated after being exhausted from defending, Thunder City was finally captured. The gateway to subjugate the South has been secured. No matter what, the people of Roland will not stop this conquest!

After spending two days to repair Thunder City, Tiger gave the order to head south.

Tiger was cautious and dispatched twenty thousand soldiers as the vanguard of the main army behind them. The twenty-thousand strong vanguard searched the areas around them but they could not find any sign of the enemy. All along the way to the south, they searched the towns and the villages and yet they could not find anybody.

What was going on? Tiger's pre-war intelligence said that the Northern provinces of the Empire had infertile land and a sparse population. They were just utilized as a war zone.

But, however sparse the population, there should still be some people around!

The Roland army soldiers were at a loss when they entered the empty towns and villages. There was no one to vent their anger, to release their pent-up murderous rage.

They were all ready to teach the heathens a lesson. They understood the decree of the Temple. The Temple and the dozen kingdoms from the Roland continent had made a joint announcement. Brave men that joined the crusade against the heathens of the Radiant Empire will have a share of land, property, and slaves.

Although this was not consistent with the Knight’s Spirit and was more like banditry, the crusade needed a lot of manpower and military power. Besides that, the enemies were sinful heathens that had rebelled against God. As a result, they conveniently ignored this issue.

However, as the soldiers continued South, they could not find a single person from the Radiant Empire.

Naturally, it was not as if totally nothing was left. The heathens of the Radiant Empire had left behind their homes and their belongings such as gold and jewelry. The officers and soldiers were thus very excited as they had still earned a lot.

Who was the one who said that the Northern provinces of the Radiant Empire were poor? These heathens were quite rich!

Many officers and soldiers have already earned a fortune and started daydreaming of becoming millionaires. At the end of this war, I can use this money to buy a good piece of land and build a small house. It would be even better if I can get a few beautiful heathen maids...

However, the people of the Radiant Empire did not leave behind any food. None at all.

In the infertile lands of the northern provinces, the scant crops had already been harvested. The remaining unharvested crops had been burned and only scorched earth was left behind.

Faced with this situation, a thought crossed Tiger's mind: strengthening the defenses and scorch the earth!

Tiger now understood the situation he was in.

He took tens of thousands of soldiers to the south. The food consumption of the soldiers and the horses were not just huge but alarming and scary. As Thunder City was near the ocean, supply replenishment was not a problem as they could rely on the ocean. All of their supplies could be continually sent from their ships in the ocean. The Radiant Empire soldiers would not be able to rob them of their ocean fleets.

However, the situation now was different. They were deep in the enemy territory. They were also unable to bring their strong warships to land and support their soldiers. All their supplies can only be transported to Thunder City before it can be transported to the south by their army.

Their journey towards the south was unusually smooth. Their two groups of ten thousand soldiers did not encounter any significant resistance. Occasionally, they encountered some garrison soldiers. These were easily repelled, but some others voluntarily retreated the moment they saw the Roland army.

It seemed that the rumors of the Empire army becoming complacent were true. They were no longer a huge and elite army. The army may still be large, but no longer elite. Naturally, the Lightning God’s Whip and the Northern Legion may be exceptions.

At the very least, our army here holds the advantage. The Northwest Legion is currently being held back by our ally Reuenthal. The Southern Legion also needs to guard the Imperial Capital from the South. The Northern Legion and the Lightning God’s Whip, combined, have fewer soldiers than us. Now, all we need is an opportunity.

We just need a chance for a decisive battle! If we can just defeat the Duke’s main army in one fell swoop…

After they arrived on the Pamir Plateau, the Roland army stopped.

They were surprised to see the scene in front of them. On the flat terrain of the Pamir Plateau, a large barracks that was ten miles long could be seen.

How did these heathens do it?

The huge barracks was large enough to accommodate three hundred thousand soldiers. The entire barracks was fenced with wooden railings, with a deep trench in front. The trench was ten miles long and on the outside, there were densely packed cheval de frise. This was for blocking the advance of the Roland knight’s armored cavalry.

It was no longer a barracks but a sturdy line of defense. He looked at the walls of the barracks, the deep trench, the daggers fixed downwards on the cheval de frise and also the archers in the barracks. Tiger could not help but sigh and wondered how many corpses it would take to fill up the trenches. It must be a lot... a lot...

However, Tiger still sighed with relief as he had found the enemy's main army. Previously, their pace when traveling towards the South was so smooth that it was disturbing. Right now, there may be a solid line of defense in front of him, one that is really vexing, but finally, a real battle could begin.

Hmph. Can the defenses of their barracks be as strong as their defenses of Thunder City? To abandon the city walls in favor of a military barracks on a plain here. I really do not understand the Duke!

The two sides probed each other on the first day and the real battle started on the second day. The Duke did not keep his troops in reserves. Both armies sent tens of thousands of soldiers into the first battle on the Pamir Plateau.

The Empire’s army then taught a valuable lesson to the Roland army. That was, even though they had a strong navy, the battles on land still belonged to the Radiant Empire.

More than thirty thousand of the Radiant Empire’s heavy infantries formed a phalanx formation to fight against the waves of soldiers from the Roland army. They fought in tandem with the archers and caused heavy losses to the Roland army.

The Royal Knights of the Sauron Kingdom had been given the order to charge. The Royal Knight Regiment Commander hoped that they would be able to sweep away the humiliation of defeat at the Thunder City. The brave Roland knights shouted their slogan, 'Fight for Honor', before rushing towards the heavy armor infantries of the Empire.

They were greeted with spears that were three meters long held up like a dense forest. The first wave of cavalries charged into the spear formation and a lot of people were skewered to death! Besides that, there were others that fell off their horses before they were beheaded by the second line of the Empire’s soldiers.

The Royal Knights immediately realized that even if the enemy was not the Lightning God’s Whip, they were not as weak as expected. The Empire’s soldiers had been going through strict training to fight against the cavalry charges of the knights. The infantries fought properly without retreating or panicking. The soldiers at the front still bravely raised their spears. Their entire formation had stood tightly packed together. Against their wall of spears, those who look at it could feel their head go numb.

Tiger immediately ordered two infantry regiments to attack when he saw that the Royal Knights could not break the enemy's phalanx formation.

Although the cavalry was unable to break through the formation, it had at least caused a certain amount of disorder.

Seen in another way, Tiger did not want the treasured Royal Knights to be exhausted by this kind of battle.

When the sun started to set, both sides ended the close fight. The Radiant Empire had lost ten thousand brave soldiers while the Roland army had lost twenty to thirty thousand soldiers. The battlefield was filled with corpses and broken limbs. The sunset looked stained in blood red.

Tiger sighed as the bright red sun gradually disappeared from the horizon. Each soldier of the Empire was worth two or three of the Roland army soldiers. This fact depressed him.

If they had encountered the Lightning God’s Whip, the difference might be even greater. Each soldier from the Lightning God’s Whip could probably fight more than four of the Roland army soldiers.

Tiger was at a loss.

If their army was so strong, why did we start a crusade? From where did those people at the Temple get the nerve to start a crusade that they would have no certainty of winning? Are they just relying on the hundreds and thousands of soldiers gathered from the ten different Kingdoms to fight against the powerful Empire?

If… If I had the Lightning God’s Whip… Tiger immediately dispelled these thoughts in his mind because it was impossible.

He knew that it would be very costly to support and maintain such a powerful army. The Roland continent had more than a dozen kingdoms. The national strength of each kingdom was limited. None of these countries could afford such a costly army. It would be impossible to pick out so many brave warriors.

"Perhaps if the Roland continent could be unified, they could rely on the strength of the entire continent to build such an army," Tiger muttered as he shook his head to try and stop thinking about that idea. He then thought again. It is impossible to get such an army as the Lightning God's Whip. The Temple’s Holy Knights could barely compete against the Lightning God’s Whip. However, the Holy Knights belong to the Temple. The Temple’s power on the Roland Continent was huge and every knight that entered the Holy Knights Regiment would receive the highest glory. This was how the Holy Knight gathered the most outstanding strength in the Roland continent.

The Temple in the Roland Continent had imposed various taxes. Its huge financial resources allowed them to build such a powerful cavalry. The Knights were ensured basic necessities, materials and human resources of the highest quality. These benefits were things that none of the kingdoms could match.

Tiger smiled bitterly and stepped back. If the hundreds and thousands of these soldiers were on the same level as the Royal Knights…

Tiger would be confident of defeating the Duke of the Tulip Family only if the hundreds and thousands of his soldiers could at least reach the level of the Royal Knights. After all, they had the advantage of numbers.

However, Tiger again smiled bitterly as he thought of this.

The Royal Knights belonged to the Sauron Kingdom. The Sauron Kingdom controlled almost half of the Roland Continent, both in terms of territory and population. Thus they had the resources to create a cavalry that was second only to the Holy Knights. However, this was their limit as the Sauron Kingdom controlled the Southern provinces of the Roland Continent. The Sauron Kingdom had to spend most of its resources to maintain a strong Navy. Everybody knew the importance of a strong Navy. After all, without a strong Navy, the heathens of the Radiant Empire would have already crossed the ocean hundreds of years ago.

Just like that, the two sides continued to battle on the Pamir Plateau. There were many fierce fights on the battlefield. Although the Empire's army was of higher quality, the Roland army made up for the difference with its numbers.

That night, both sides had dispatched hundreds of people to clean up the battlefield. It was a moment where both sides had a tacit understanding of a ceasefire. The soldiers would search for wounded soldiers to carry back. They then gathered the corpses together ...

A blaze started at the edge of the battlefield. The corpses gathered there were burnt into ashes.

At that moment, the Roland army was recalling the shocking scene at the battlefield that day.

The Radiant Empire had dispatched their trump card, the Lightning God's Whip, while the Roland army dispatched the Holy Knights. Tens of thousands of horses had charged towards each other, causing the earth to tremble and even the clouds seemed to disperse.

Hundreds and thousands of people had watched the strongest cavalries from both continents clash directly against each other.

The Roland army had high expectations of the Holy Knights. They knew how frightening and powerful the Lightning God's Whip was. They believed that only the Holy Knights would be able to stand against the Lightning God's Whip.

However, the truth once again surprised them.

Perhaps under normal conditions, the Holy Knights may have been able to withstand the assault of the Lightning God’s Whip. However, if the army being led by the frightening Duke of the Tulip Family's banner, the Lightning God’s Whip would be able to crush any enemies.

The only person that could compete against the Duke, the Paladin Fielding, was still wounded. As a result, the Holy Knights were led by three other Senior Knights.

Hundreds and thousands of soldiers also witnessed the Duke kill these three Senior Knights on the battlefield. One of these knights died in a particularly tragic manner. The Duke had fiercely killed his horse. The knight then fell off into the stampede of horses. When they cleaned up the battlefield later, they could not find his body as it had been trampled into bits of flesh by the tens and thousands of horses.

"What are we doing here? Did the Temple send us here to die?" Tiger was lost in thought.