King
Chapter 972 - 972 117 Flesh and Blood Grinder_4

972: Chapter 117: Flesh and Blood Grinder_4 972: Chapter 117: Flesh and Blood Grinder_4 Armor could block, but that didn’t mean the flesh and blood within could withstand the impact.

Even at a distance of two or three hundred steps, being struck by arrows could still be lethal.

The agony on the battlefield was excruciating.

As she watched one Elf Soldier after another fall, anxiety gradually painted itself across Derris’s face.

The Elf Army below was desperately retaliating, but the situation on the battlefield made her shiver with fear.

Even as the two sides engaged in close combat, the Human cavalry didn’t fall behind at all.

With the continuous sneak attacks by the crossbow arrows, on average, three Elf Soldiers had to be sacrificed to take down a single Human cavalryman.

For the Elf Race, this way of fighting was a complete blood loss.

Looking at the size of the Expeditionary Army, it was clear that being able to field over thirty thousand of such Elite Cavalry meant that this was replicable.

Given the vast population base of the Human Race, as long as they were willing to invest money and resources, cultivating hundreds of thousands or even millions of such cavalry was indeed possible.

“Retreat,” the thought had just arisen before Derris extinguished it.

In a head-on confrontation, the great army could still hold on, but retreating would mean exposing their backs to the enemy.

The war of attrition continued, and the exchange ratio on the battlefield was gradually shrinking.

There was no choice; the Magic Crossbows were enjoying firing, but the consumption of arrows was also vast.

What was originally kite-flying tactics had now turned into a head-on attritional struggle.

At this critical juncture of life and death, the Elf Army still demonstrated their due quality.

Compared to Derris’s full heart of worries, Hudson’s smile did not lessen.

Even in close-quarters combat, cavalry held an advantage over infantry.

At this rate of attrition, it was only a matter of time before this Elf Army was annihilated.

…

“Don’t engage the enemy, just disrupt their marching rhythm!”

“Take a detour and shoot at their flanks!”

Jose kept issuing orders.

To ambush the Ancient Remnant Allied Army was his first true command in battle in his life, and he could fully utilize his capabilities.

“Retreat!”

“We’ll go and destroy the enemy’s camp!”

Hudson’s order to him was to delay time as much as possible; how to fight was not specified, just to ensure that the Magical Beast Legion did not suffer significant losses.

The enemy’s camp was less than twenty miles away, and he ambushed them five times, feinting at their main camp thrice.

The specific battle achievements were impossible to count, but the objective of delaying time was indeed achieved.

The marching column of The Hundred Thousand Army was extraordinarily long.

Randomly picking a spot to attack could create significant chaos.

The Ancient Remnant Allied Army continued to advance, although their marching speed was indeed worrying.

According to the agreement, by this time, they should have arrived at the battlefield, but they had only gotten halfway, causing all the Kings to feel a chill on their scalps.

Now they finally understood why, back in the day, tens of thousands of Bimon Cavalry could tangle with the seven hundred thousand Great Army of Warhammer Kingdom for months, eventually winning in cooperation with the Orc Army.

Their situation was much the same now, with each tribal King forced to order formation marching to guard against cavalry sneak attacks.

The safety of the great army was ensured, but the speed of the march was delayed.

Marching in formation at night was also a test for the troops.

Due to the roads not accommodating the laying out of formations, non-combat casualties were not minor.

One could fall into a trap if not careful, or slip and fall, or many other accidents that could happen in the night.

“Report!”

…

“All Kings, the enemy is attacking our camp again!”

Hearing the news brought by the Snow Eagle, the Kings showed no response.

Apparently, having heard the boy-who-cried-wolf story too often, they had become numb to it.

“Let’s ignore them and continue marching!

The battle at the front is critical, and the reinforcements we sent have already fallen into enemy encirclement.

If there’s any more delay, we might not only fail to preserve the supplies, but the allies we sent earlier could be at risk of being encircled and annihilated.

Especially the Elf Race Army, if they suffer heavy losses due to our slow reinforcement, we would not be able to justify ourselves to our allies later,” said the Macaque King, his face etched with exhaustion.

It was frustrating to be led by the nose in this pathetic battle by the enemy.

He was truly fed up and simply chose to ignore it.

“Ah!”

After a heavy sigh, the few Kings who wanted to object at this point chose to keep silent.

“Since no one is objecting, then let the order be passed down to speed up the march!

According to the news from the front, the vanguard forces have already lost more than half, and the Elf Army has not been without significant losses.

The Respected One has been provoked by the enemy’s Commander in Chief, and if we’re any slower, her anger might vent onto us, and I’m sure everyone can imagine the consequences,” declared the Shadow King, his words final.

He had made similar decisions several times, and his influence within the Alliance had grown significantly and subtly.

The only issue was the lack of overwhelming strength, which made it hard to truly convince everyone.

Gaining tacit recognition was a long-term process.

…

The bloody fight continued.

The battlefield was like a Flesh and Blood Grinder, endlessly devouring the lives of officers and soldiers from both sides.

Even Hudson, accustomed to life and death, had a trace of solemnity in his expression.

After years of warring in the south and the north, this was the first real clash of the elite.

Forged in the fires of blood, this night would be the transformation of the Expeditionary Army.