Yarra’s Adventure Notes
Chapter 1220 - 6 Anomalies

Chapter 1220: Chapter 6 Anomalies

"The forces from various powers did not directly block the area around Death’s Gate, that would have been too foolish, as it would simply allow themselves to be included within the range of Undead attacks," said Flare, no longer teasing the young girls, but starting to explain seriously, "Therefore, the forward outposts of all parties are positioned one to two kilometers away from Death’s Gate, and the frontline positions are deployed at a distance of about twenty kilometers from Death’s Gate. In this way, on the vast sands of the desert, it’s not only possible to clarify the movements of Death’s Gate through the outposts but also to have a certain strategic depth, providing ample space for contingencies."

"The most critical aspect is that this arrangement can shorten the distance for supply lines. Often, reducing the supply distance by a single kilometer can significantly decrease human and material resource consumption," Catherine, who was very knowledgeable about military affairs, nodded and agreed, "Supplying in the desert must be difficult, and even though the Sand People utilize sand worms for the majority of transportation tasks, there must be at least fifty to sixty thousand warriors from the various tribes at the frontier positions. Maintaining food and drink for this many people is not an easy task. In some ways, the appearance of Undead from the Sighing Desert greatly increases the difficulty in intercepting them."

"You haven’t been to the Sighing Desert yet, have you? As one of Yarran World’s forbidden zones of life, it is truly terrifying," Flare lamented, "The Country of Sand may be established in the desert, but the Sand People’s territories have plants, oases, and creatures after all. With sufficient knowledge of desert survival, it is easy enough to live there, but the Sighing Desert is different. There is nothing in the Sighing Desert but sand. Even if you search the entire desert, you cannot find food or water. To get lost in the Sighing Desert means only death awaits, with no chance of survival, no matter how strong the individual is. Due to the extremely harsh living conditions, the powers do not dare to position large forces within the depths of the desert for long periods, including us. Thus, the total number of troops at the front lines is only twenty thousand, but these twenty thousand are all elite troops, fully capable of temporarily halting the advance of the Undead until support troops follow up or until other orders are given."

"Twenty thousand? That seems a bit few," Catherine pondered aloud, "I haven’t witnessed the scene of an Undead War, but just imagining facing a vista filled with Undead, it seems like twenty thousand is not enough."

"Once an outpost issues an early warning, troops would press forward," said Flare, continuing her explanation, "If we were to tighten the encirclement, those elite soldiers could keep the Undead in check over a short period. As long as there’s time to respond, the troops in the rear can block all routes and then proceed with the plan layer by layer. After all, it wasn’t certain at first whether Death’s Gate would open or not, so it was impossible to allocate more people inside."

"Right, the person formulating the tactics must be more professional than me," Catherine nodded, "My considerations certainly aren’t as comprehensive as theirs, so I won’t go on about it. Now that the troops were all ready, what happened next?"

"As soon as Death’s Gate opened, the outpost sent alerts to troops of all parties, and, just as expected, the Undead surged out from Death’s Gate," Flare spoke of events already passed but still conveyed a sense of confusion, "In accordance with established tactics, the frontline troops began to advance, narrowing the distance between the two sides. But after advancing by a third, some scouts ran back to report that something was wrong and recommended that the commanders assess the situation before making a decision. As a result, the troops secured an area less than ten kilometers in radius around Death’s Gate, and several frontline commanders followed the scouts to the Death’s Gate outpost, where they witnessed a surprising scene."

"The Undead did not launch an attack on them, did they?" Pannis lounged back, resting his chin on his hands placed on the table, "I guessed as much when I heard the Elder Council arguing about whether the Undead would form ranks."

"Yeah, based on our previous experience, the Undead would only attack living beings crazily. Once they emerge from Death’s Gate, they would immediately spread in all directions, and upon seeing a scout, they would instinctively try to tear them to shreds," Flare confirmed with a nod, "But this time was different. It’s said that after emerging, the Undead organized themselves like an army, even forming defensive formations. By the time the commanders arrived, nearly ten thousand Undead had poured out of Death’s Gate, forming several groups and using defensive formations to protect Death’s Gate within their midst, and more Undead were constantly emerging from Death’s Gate, joining the existing army to strengthen their defensive power."

"This is terrifying," Catherine said with a furrowed brow, "If I were a commander, I’d probably ignore everything else and immediately break through the enemy’s defenses to prevent them from assembling forces, otherwise, the longer the delay, the more difficult it gets."

"In theory, that’s correct, but the actual situation did not permit it," Flare shook her head, "The Undead were not like last time, where countless Lower Rank Undead were mixed with very few Upper Rank ones. This time, from the start, the emerging Undead were very powerful, and even the elite troops were not confident in breaking through the enemy’s lines. After all, the initial tactic was designed with the expectation that the first Undead to appear would be weak, but no one had anticipated such a sudden change."

"What happened then?" Catherine pressed on, "What measures did our side’s troops take?"

"The commanders immediately summoned their elites to advance to within three kilometers of Death’s Gate. During this time, the Undead completely ignored the scouts spying on their positions, simply holding their ground to consolidate, not reacting even when the scouts approached a dangerously close distance," Flare explained, "Once the troops were close to the Undead, the commanders started to test various approaches. However, only when the troops approached within the minimum alert range of a normal army would the Undead suddenly assume an attack stance for intimidation. Once the troops retreated, the Undead would return to their original defensive stance, never pursuing."

"Are they really Undead?" Catherine asked incredulously, "They already resemble a well-trained regular army."

"When the commanders relayed the information back, many people had the same thought as you," Flare said with a wry smile, "This situation made the commanders even more hesitant to attack. Who knew whether a hasty attack might suddenly provoke a counterattack from the Undead? If the elite troops couldn’t hold them back at that time, they wouldn’t be able to complete the task of sealing the Undead. Fortunately, these Undead only defended around Death’s Gate without showing any tendency to spread out. Therefore, the frontline troops could only monitor the Undead’s movements while seeking help from behind."