Otherworld Advance Team
Chapter 1314 - 1307: Changing Formation

Chapter 1314: Chapter 1307: Changing Formation

"Not at all," Cheng Ziang extended his hand to explain for her. "On the battlefield, blades and swords are blind; no one can guarantee whether these people are civilians or soldiers without their armor. Asking her to distinguish friend from foe under these circumstances is putting her in a difficult situation. Which is more important— the lives of those civilians, or Feng’s life? I think you should be able to view this objectively."

Hearing his words, Tangmo pondered for a moment and then nodded, "You make sense, but regardless, when ensuring one’s own safety, try not to kill the innocent indiscriminately. Attack only those who bear weapons, just like that."

"Oh!" This time, Feng’s mood noticeably improved, and she nodded vigorously.

"There’s another thing," Cheng Ziang added, "the general must die, remember that!"

After a whole night’s rest, at dawn, the Advance Team had already gotten up. They were about to cooperate with the next batch of raiding squads to launch a surprise attack on the next stronghold.

This mission might be a bit more challenging since the previous attack must have alerted the Dongsheng army; thus, they couldn’t possibly be completely unprepared.

Speaking of which, the Advance Team was somewhat unlucky. The Demon Clan’s army could rotate, but they had only one team and had to accompany them. So no matter how the Demon Clan’s army rotated, it was irrelevant to them; they had to follow and fight.

In the second round, the Demon Clan’s army’s equipment was clearly different. Besides carrying those convenient shields, they also brought along those tall standing signs.

Thus, if they encountered strong resistance from the Dongsheng army, they would dissolve the previous Ten-People Formation and form a long line to advance.

Moreover, their musketeers did not take turns resting; those who participated in the first raid were directly moved to the second raiding squad to enhance firepower and would continue using this method.

The battle Cheng Ziang and Tangmo participated in was still one that took place in plain fields. The Demon Clan’s army blew the horns, attacking directly from the fields towards the village center.

However, this time the Dongsheng army was clearly prepared, having established numerous obstructions around the village, and all the soldiers gathered and held their positions defensively.

Seeing this, the Demon Clan’s commander reacted very quickly and immediately ordered a change in formation. The Ten-People Formation was dissolved, and shield-bearing swordsmen formed the first line of defense, fending off the Dongsheng army’s ranged attacks. Besides that, the musketeers moved from the third squad to the second squad, while the pikemen fell back to the third.

Thanks to improvements in the muskets, making the firing steps less cumbersome, the Demon Clan’s musketeers could form a relatively dense shooting formation, firing at the Dongsheng army through gaps in the standing signs.

As the formation slowly advanced, the Dongsheng army’s crossbowmen continuously carried out ranged attacks, but to little effect, because the kinetic energy contained in the crossbows was insufficient to penetrate the shields; only large crossbows or muskets possibly could.

But because the Dongsheng army was extremely reliant on the general, this led to a very flat operational system without large war machines; the artillery they encountered before had been captured from the Demon Clan.

Pikemen carefully advanced in the third squad, their main task being to guard against cavalry attacks from Dongsheng. It’s worth noting that this area was all plains, highly suitable for cavalry; if they were outflanked and attacked from behind, the Demon Clan’s army would suffer heavy losses.

Meanwhile, in readiness for a potential general from the Dongsheng army, the Demon Clan’s vanguard also followed closely behind, positioned behind the shield formation, ready to charge once within a certain range.

Cheng Ziang and Tangmo did not join the offensive formation but stayed in the rear, using Origin Submachine Guns to sweep the stronghold, leveraging the advantage of long-range firepower.

High-tech weapons indeed, the mere suppression fire from their two Origin Submachine Guns successfully held back the counterattack of the Dongsheng troops.

The barricades used to defend against the Demon Clan’s forces were destroyed and burned, and the dirt and stone strongholds relied upon by the Dongsheng troops were also demolished, dealing a great blow to their morale.

Although the Demon Clan’s soldiers did not think highly of the two men, they had to admit that Tangmo and Cheng Ziang played a significant role in the battle, reducing the loss of many soldiers.

That is why the Demon Clan’s commander specifically assigned a team of cavalry and pikemen to protect them, to prevent them from being overwhelmed by the Dongsheng cavalry.

But, to put it bluntly, if the Dongsheng cavalry were spotted by the two first, they would likely be annihilated on their charge. After all, similar instances had occurred during World War One on Earth, where machine guns decimated cavalry.

Due to a lack of horses, the Demon Clan’s army primarily consisted of infantry, with horses being a rare commodity. Nevertheless, each of the two men was provided with a horse to facilitate their movement.

This situation reminded Tangmo and Cheng Ziang of the Song Dynasty, which had lost almost all horse-producing territories after losing the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun, relying only on heavy infantry to fend off the down-rushing cavalry were indeed quite tragic.

However, everything should be viewed from a developmental perspective; it is important to note that the military technology at that time was not as advanced as now. The Demon Clan’s army was not a purely melee weapon-based army but one stepping into modern warfare.

Especially after receiving help from guests from the Western Continent, their military technological development surged, transitioning their outdated matchlock guns directly to flintlock guns.

By melting down the metal from the Helrandum, the Demon Clan obtained a large quantity of high-quality steel, used to forge new firearms in preparation for the upcoming wars.

Indeed, anyone with a brain could see through the series of wars that each action of the Dongsheng troops was full of contradictions — they were cautious about big issues but reckless when small gains were in sight, retreating when they should have attacked and audaciously dividing their forces when they should have defended. Such an army, relying on sheer numbers and numerous generals, was able to defeat the Demon Clan forces.

The failure of the Demon Clan’s army was not due to poor soldiers or ill strategies but due to a lack of power. Small in territory and sparse in population, plus being a loose tribal alliance, they were certainly no match for a centralized imperial power.

Of course, the Advance Team, which had contacts with the Dongsheng commander, clearly understood the motives behind the Dongsheng army’s actions; it was to eliminate internal generals.

The internal contradictions within the Dongsheng army, or rather the Dongsheng Empire, were evidently more severe than external conflicts. To some extent, the war in West Outer Heaven essentially represented the release of internal conflicts within the Dongsheng Empire, reducing the Demon Clan people entirely to cannon fodder.

Back on the battlefield, as the Demon Clan troops continued to advance, the Dongsheng troops felt increasing pressure, especially since the Demon Clan’s formation breached the fifty-meter range of the firearms, which offset the range advantage of crossbows.

Moreover, in the deadly exchange of fire, the power of the firearms was far greater than that of the crossbows. Arrows shot by crossbowmen were blocked by the Demon Clan’s upright shields, while bullets fired from the firearms easily penetrated the Dongsheng troops’ shields, being far more powerful.

Especially after switching to flintlock guns and passing through loading training, the maximum firing rate of the Demon Clan’s musketeers could even reach five to six rounds per minute, making the Dongsheng troops hardly able to raise their heads.

Both in firing rate and power, the crossbows were completely overshadowed by the firearms, leading the Dongsheng troops to be severely suppressed. The shield-bearers fell one after another, and many crossbowmen were killed.

The Demon Clan troops stopped less than forty meters away from them and kept firing relentlessly, shrouding the battlefield in white smoke, with each volley felling several Dongsheng soldiers. Judging from the situation, it was estimated that within an hour, the Dongsheng troops would be completely annihilated.

Moreover, to make matters worse, Tangmo and Cheng Ziang were also lying low behind the lines, continually carrying out fire suppression, exacerbating the casualty rate of the Dongsheng troops and further destabilizing their morale.