Otherworld Advance Team
Chapter 1822 - 1815: Facing the Enemy Head-On

Chapter 1822: Chapter 1815: Facing the Enemy Head-On

Jiuyun Shuang’s strategy was perfectly executed, and the Yipa army indeed began to retreat and reinforce according to his plan.

During this period, the scouts scattered across the grasslands played their role, constantly relaying the movements of the Yipa army back to the fleet, allowing him to adjust his strategic deployment in a timely manner.

The purpose of the Yipa army was simple: find the Dongsheng forces causing trouble in the rear, eliminate them, and then deploy forces on the front lines to engage in a decisive battle with the Northern Province army.

However, their intentions were clearly going to be thwarted, as Jiuyun Shuang firmly grasped their movements and adjusted his attack targets based on their trails.

In the next two weeks, the Dongsheng forces and the Yipa army played a game of hide and seek on the vast grasslands and desert.

With the continuous intelligence provided by the scouts, Jiuyun Shuang bypassed the sharp edges of the Yipa army and attacked their weakest rear.

Since most of the supplies relied on air transport, with little ground transport, the Dongsheng forces were able to maneuver quickly and recover combat power rapidly.

In contrast, the Yipa army, with a hundred thousand troops, was led around by the Dongsheng fleet like headless flies, searching everywhere in the grasslands for traces of the Dongsheng forces. Yet, while they found no signs of people, their settlements were repeatedly attacked, suffering heavy losses.

Under relentless attacks, different opinions began to emerge within the Yipa army.

Some Yipa soldiers wanted to surrender immediately and fully accept the terms of the Dongsheng Empire, just to end the war as soon as possible.

Another group insisted on continuing to fight, at least to defeat a Dongsheng force before considering peace talks. Otherwise, simply taking beatings passively as they were now would gain them nothing, even if they surrendered.

Under the influence of these two prevailing ideologies, the already disunited Yipa army began to show cracks, and the leaders of the three Yipa divisions had their own thoughts.

The truth is, the war itself was nonsensical; the Yipa people had only heard that the Dongsheng had issued a proclamation to dispatch troops for conquest, resulting in the three divisions banding together in panic.

Now that they had calmed down, they couldn’t help but wonder if they had somehow offended the Dongsheng Empire and needed to do something to compensate, or perhaps they should simply pledge allegiance to the Dongsheng Empire.

Facing unilateral beatings, with nothing the troops could do, and losses growing steadily, such pressure caused serious internal strife among the Yipa people.

So, in less than a month into the war, the hundred thousand strong Yipa army dispersed in disarray, with each division redeploying their forces to protect their remaining assets from harassment by the Dongsheng forces.

With their mobility completely outmatched, the Yipa people’s remaining pride dissipated.

Their weakness even surprised the Northern Province army, who had once clashed with them. They hadn’t expected the once formidable Yipa cavalry to be so fragile.

This was the opportunity Jiuyun Shuang was waiting for.

Ten thousand infantry against a hundred thousand cavalry—a slightly brainy commander knows this battle could not be won.

On open plains, even an army with World War One-level capabilities might not completely defeat a hundred thousand cavalry, let alone the modernized army under Jiuyun Shuang’s command equipped with flintlock guns.

The Dongsheng new army’s weapons weren’t universally distributed with flintlock guns but were issued at a ratio of three to one.

In other words, out of the hundred thousand Dongsheng new soldiers, only about thirty to forty thousand were equipped with flintlock guns; the rest were pikemen, swordsmen, and a few cavalry.

This was inevitable because even with reforms, transformation couldn’t happen overnight. Despite having experience from demon clan armies, the Dongsheng new army still needed to explore how to entirely replace cold weapons with firearms.

Moreover, the most critical issue was the production capacity of the weapons.

Ultimately, being a feudal agricultural society, they hadn’t developed a mature industrial system, so most firearms were produced in workshops. They weren’t standardized, and output was also low.

Although the Dongsheng forces weren’t slower than the demon clan in equipping firearms, the guns themselves weren’t revolutionary weapons, so development was slow.

It’s still the same issue: the Dongsheng Empire’s society has the lag of a feudal agricultural society, as well as a cultivation system causing a pseudo-resource trap, making the development of modern weapons exceedingly slow and conservatism widespread in social thought.

Jiuyun Shuang’s army had to counter the charge of the Yipa cavalry, so most of his forces were composed of pikemen and swordsmen to protect the seemingly fragile musketeers.

As the Yipa army began to disband and return for reinforcement, Jiuyun Shuang started the next phase of his plan.

Attacking defenseless rear opponents was just one means and not Jiuyun Shuang’s ultimate goal.

His true intention was to disperse the Yipa army and then defeat them one by one. In other words, he wanted to strike and defeat the sharp spears of the Yipa army head-on, only then could he make them completely submit.

The Dongsheng Empire did not want the Yipa three divisions to submit immediately because they aimed first to weaken their military might, making them realize they couldn’t resist the Empire.

Only in this way would the three Yipa divisions readily choose to submit.

What Jiuyun Shuang was doing was the second step: weakening the military strength of the Yipa tribes to make them give up any hope of invading the Empire’s borders.

Jiuyun Shuang’s first target was the Chiwo Tribe. As they returned with twenty thousand cavalry to their ravaged settlements, the Dongsheng fleet suddenly burst through the clouds, appearing before them.

Upon seeing this, the leader of the Chiwo Tribe immediately commanded the cavalry to charge towards the fleet’s landing point, firing a continuous stream of arrows.

However, such arrows to the Overturning Beast were nothing more than tickles and couldn’t even pierce its defenses.

And thus, the long-hidden secret weapon of the Dongsheng army was finally revealed.

The reason why the Dongsheng new army’s flintlock gun ratio only maintained at three-to-one was that most production capacity was allocated to manufacturing various types of cannons.

Unlike the demon clan army, who favored muskets, the Dongsheng army, with convenient transportation tools, favored artillery. Consequently, they opened rows of gun ports in the belly of the Overturning Beast for ground land attacks.

When the Yipa horse archers reached the landing zone, attempting to obstruct it, the Dongsheng army’s artillery finally opened fire.

Accompanied by deafening roars and smoke enveloping the fleet, the Dongsheng army’s field artillery unleashed a torrent of projectiles at the incoming Yipa cavalry.

All sorts of solid and fragmentation grenades were shot towards the ground, sweeping over large areas and sending the Yipa horsemen into a panic, losing hundreds in an instant.

Seeing all this, the Chiwo Tribe leader was trembling with fear, hurriedly commanding the cavalry to retreat, escaping the range of the Dongsheng artillery support.

Without the Yipa cavalry’s harassment, the Dongsheng infantry began landing orderly, skillfully assembling into ranks, readying themselves for battle.

Just as the troops were still gathering, a horseman from the Yipa cavalry came galloping from afar, shouting in Kyushu language: "May I ask which general of the Heavenly Dynasty is willing to speak with my leader?"

"General, may I have permission to step forth?" Ziyan requested.

"No need, I will go personally."

Jiuyun Shuang waved his hand, mounted a tall horse, and rode out from the formation.

Seeing Jiuyun Shuang step out, the Yipa rider promptly turned back. Before long, a figure with the appearance of a leader slowly rode out, arriving within ten meters of Jiuyun Shuang.

"I am Toto, leader of the Chiwo Tribe. May I know which general from the Heavenly Dynasty you are?" The leader politely clasped his hands and said.

"I am Jiuyun Shuang," Jiuyun Shuang replied indifferently.

"Ah, so it is the heir of the Jiuyun Clan. May I ask what the Manor Lord intends by leading forces to harass my tribe?"

"I have been ordered to suppress bandits, without asking anything else."

"Where do these bandits come from? We all wish to surrender to the Heavenly Dynasty."

"If you genuinely wish to surrender to the Heavenly Dynasty, why gather troops at the border with intentions of harassment?"

"This..."

Toto was momentarily stumped, not knowing how to respond.

"If you are willing to surrender, then dismount, lay down your arms, and snap your bows," Jiuyun Shuang said coldly.

"Please, Manor Lord, do not make things difficult for us..."

Upon hearing this request, Toto furrowed his brows, showing a troubled expression.

"If you are unwilling, then let us meet on the battlefield!"

Saying this, Jiuyun Shuang didn’t wait for a reply, turned his horse, and rode away.