Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters

In order to conceal their movements, Juan had no choice but to set up the attack position a mile away.

But he still ran into the enemy sentries, fortunately, the sentries were also startled and were killed before they could raise the alarm.

The charge of over a mile, not to mention how much strength the soldiers would have left when they reached the enemy, just running a mile through the forest without deviating from the path is something few could achieve.

So Tang Juan was taking a gamble, with the disadvantages of a reckless assault on one side of the scale, and the fragile morale of the enemy soldiers and Moritz van Nassau on the other.

The original plan was to wait for the enemy troops to split up, then ambush them in the open ground between Hammer Fort and Revodan.

However, the enemy commander was unusually cautious, fighting by the book.

This made Tang Juan uncertain whether the enemy would still divide their forces.

Observing the enemy's several failed attacks on Hammer Fort, Lieutenant Tang Juan concluded that the enemy soldiers had low morale and lacked the will to fight.

Therefore, he decided to adopt a more dangerous battle plan—to annihilate them in front of Hammer Fort, regardless of whether the enemy divided their troops!

Successfully intercepting Colonel Gaisa's messenger offered him a godsent opportunity.

Tang Juan had not proposed "taking advantage of the situation to decapitate," perhaps because he hadn't thought of it or because he didn't want to.

But Colonel Moritz himself suggested this perilous plan.

It was a surprise to everyone that Moritz, with his rank of Colonel, volunteered to risk his life to assassinate the enemy commander,

Tang Juan was extremely moved.

"Do unto them as they have done unto us," Moritz chuckled with his usual casualness, "If they can send Spellcasters disguised as messengers to assassinate, we might as well give it a try."

Juan, with his military saber in hand, was sprinting through the woods, silently praying, "Don't let anything happen, Colonel."

Breaking out of the forest, the view opened up, and just as he expected, there were only a few people who accurately followed him and ran to the side of the enemy camp.

The formation of the Iron Peak County Infantry had become fragmented after the mile-long cross-country charge.

Many soldiers ran out of the forest and stood on the road only to find the enemy camp was still three or four hundred meters away from them.

Some soldiers even ended up behind Hammer Fort.

"Damn it! What were they thinking?" cursed Juan angrily, "Pull out the stakes!"

He was the first to rush to the wooden barrier, followed by the other soldiers like they had just woken from a dream.

They inserted stakes carried with the army into the ground, spaced two fist-widths apart, with sharp ends pointing outward to form a wooden barricade—textbook temporary defensive fortifications for a camp.

The enemy had two circles of wooden barricades, inner and outer.

Just as Tang Juan was pulling a gap wide enough for two men in the outer circle, enemy troops inside the camp came running over.

Some of the enemies began firing bows and arrows at Tang Juan and his men.

The enemy's bows were weak, the arrows flying erratically, but they still scared the Iron Peak County Soldiers into a panic.

As arrows whizzed past them, they turned and ran.

"[Vulgar expletive denoting extreme anger and frustration]!" Tang Juan cursed furiously, "I'm not running! What are you running for? Where is the disciplinary team?"

The disciplinary team didn't respond because they too had strayed from the path.

Tang Juan shouted frantically, raising his military saber and dragging down one of the fleeing soldiers, ready to enforce discipline himself.

Otherworldly howls came from the woods; the noise startled everyone, friend and foe alike, leaving even Tang Juan momentarily stunned.

The howling grew closer and louder.

A short soldier burst out of the foliage, unarmed—nobody would have imagined that such a chilling battle cry could come from such a diminutive man.

The small soldier broke into the space between the two barricades, crazily pulling up the stakes.

The enemy shot arrows at him, but he didn't dodge.

"Kill the demon!" After pulling out a stake, he let out a roar: "Kill the demon!"

Many of the fleeing Iron Peak County Soldiers stopped in their tracks, hesitating.

Seizing this opportunity, Tang Juan completed what he had to do; he slashed the deserter to death with a sword and commanded fiercely, "Whoever dares to run, execute on the spot!"

More and more Iron Peak County Soldiers emerged from the forest.

Most of them hadn't followed Tang Juan's initial charge and found it easy to drop to the ground, but hard to stand up again.

So, they lay on the ground, hoping to last until either victory or defeat.

It was only with the centurions' curses, whips, and threats of confiscating three hundred acres of their land that the frightened soldiers stood up and joined the fight.

The fresh troops swept up the would-be deserters and charged toward the enemy camp; with an army lacking resolve, sheer numbers were a source of courage.

Seeing their comrades by their side, even the most cowardly soldiers suddenly mustered some bravery.

Iron Peak County Soldiers swarmed toward the wooden barricades, following the short soldier in pulling out the stakes.

"Shout! Give me a damn shout!" Tang Juan bellowed.

His emotions were extreme, yet Tang Juan's thoughts were unusually calm.

He knew that both sides were ragtags, fighting purely on momentum.

If they could just appear as if they could win, then they would truly win!

Tang Juan raised his blood-dripping saber high, leading his soldiers to chant, "Kill! Kill! Kill!"

"Kill!" The Iron Peak County Soldiers pulled out the outer stakes.

"Kill!!" The Iron Peak County Soldiers pulled out the inner stakes.

"Kill!!!" The Iron Peak County Soldiers surged into the enemy camp like a flood.

"The Vernge County garrison officer is dead!" Suddenly Tang Juan realized something was amiss, "Surrender and live!"

"Die!" The Iron Peak County Soldiers, with bloodshot eyes, screamed, "Kill!"

...

By the time Richard Mason, in charge of defending Hammer Fort, arrived with his artillery team, the Iron Peak County Infantry had already broken through the barricades and entered the enemy camp.

The two sides were locked in close combat amongst tents and campfires.

With no uniforms, it was almost impossible to tell friend from foe.