Chapter 784: Star Realm Tearing? Ugh! Obsolete thing! Come now.

Chapter 782: 781.Star Realm Rip? Ugh! Outdated stuff! Now for something more exciting- [1430].

(Last month’s monthly votes added~)

“I’m sorry, we tried to rescue them, but…”

At the Winter Wolf position in Baphomet Canyon, Colonel Fraser, who had retreated through the pits, was still wearing his bloodstained armor, but instead of going to rest at the first opportunity, he handed over a folded and broken Winter Wolf battle flag to Colonel Duke, who was guarding the place, in a solemn gesture.

The latter’s heart rose with a sense of foreboding at the sight of this flag being brought back by the Goldfinch.

After listening to Frazier’s description, the body of the colonel, who was trusted by General Baldwin, shook his head as he stared at the battle flag in front of him and said in a muffled voice:
“So, all of our troops in the Valley of the Shadow are . What about Bartholomew Young? Is he dead, too?”

“Colonel Basomiyan is not dead, but I don’t imagine he can be considered alive in his current state.”

Fraser whispered:

“More than one officer saw Colonel Barthomyan fighting valiantly in his position as we retreated; the jackals’ sneaky arrows took him down, but the vampires saved him, in the ‘rescue way’ that vampires do.

Also, there is a Nord unit from Ice Bay on a special mission, and they should be alive as well, but the evacuation plan does not have them evacuating in this direction.”

“Blanch!”

Colonel Duke cursed harshly.

This was the worst news of all.

Even worse than the total annihilation of the vanguard force by a dog-head digging raid, it was hard to imagine how desperate that irascible and pious fellow Bartholomew Young must have been to find out that he had become a vampire, and Colonel Duke couldn’t help but feel an undeserved wave of dark speculation rising in his mind after he saw that all the troops except for the vanguard of the Winterwolf Legion had already withdrawn from the valley.

Perhaps his own vanguard had been used by these fellows .
Nope!
The present state of the battle was not the time to think about that.

The sensible Colonel Duke shook the dark thought out of his mind as his eyes looked beyond Fraser to the further reaches of the pit through which the Silver Dwarves had penetrated only a few days ago, and from which a steady stream of soldiers were emerging.

Each of them carried with them the exhaustion of a forced march, and in such a state it was impossible for them to engage in battle again.

However, they had brought with them the ammunition and various medication supplies that were currently very much needed by the Nords’ position, as well as a portion of the newly-produced Blood Vulture Claw Rifles from the Transylvanian Arsenal, and most importantly, the thousands of people who had been evacuated this time only needed a short rest before they could immediately replenish themselves to the position where the current situation wasn’t so optimistic.

Colonel Duke shook his head and said:

“Your soldiers can rest in the rear, the Dwarf Priests have helped us build bunkers there, and our cooks can help again, but I can only give you up to 3 days of rest and recuperation.”

“Enough.”

Colonel Fraser clutched his battle helmet as he spoke in a deep voice:

“Although the Jackals have just captured the Valley of the Shadow, the massive counterattack launched by the Transylvanians to cover the evacuation destroyed their camps, and even if Xu Gesen is in a hurry, he can’t immediately dispatch those Jackals who also need to recuperate, so we still have a little bit of time, and I’d like to ask, how’s the battle situation here for you?”

“Holding up for now.”

Colonel Duke said as he pointed to the position at his feet that had been molded into sloping terrain:

“Just because you’re holding firm in the Valley of the Shadow doesn’t mean we’re just idling away our days here; we’ve routed at least seventeen attacks by the Jackals in the last twenty-two days. They have moved the Dogheads back into the Valley of the Shadow, leaving us free of the threat from below, but we have still fallen some of our positions, though the rest have been fortified.

While we are indeed tired, I believe that the Jackals on the other side have also become exhausted, and there is no way for them to organize another attack anytime soon.”

“How many men do you have left?”

Colonel Fraser asked with a frown, and Colonel Duke hesitated and spoke honestly:
“Around three thousand two hundred, and more than a thousand wounded soldiers were sent back to the Maginot line.”

“As I recall you had 7,500 men when you initially deployed.”

The commander of the Kingdom of Goldfinch exclaimed:

“Your casualties are too heavy, perhaps you should pull back to the Maginot Line now and leave this place to us to defend, you’re in worse shape than we are.”

“Give our position to the Goldfinchers? No, never!”

Colonel Duke shot back tersely:
“General Baldwin’s orders to us are to hold here until the fortification and refurbishment of Fort Crimson is complete, and I have not received orders from the General to evacuate my position! Neither will my soldiers!”

This reply was full of the brute force due to the Yankees.

Colonel Frazier glanced at several gallows in the rear of the position; the bodies of the soldiers hanging from them were intact, which meant that those soldiers had not died in battle.

Deserters, perhaps?

Even the disciplined Winter Wolves had deserted, so the situation in this position was not as “optimistic” as Colonel Duke had said.

“Is it to wash away the shame?”

Fraser asked softly:
“Just because the Transylvanians called you ‘cowards’? No, it shouldn’t be! Lord Duke, no one can call you cowards when you stood guard and faced the Jackal advance head-on, fought them seventeen times, and held off the attack for twenty-two days.

Your army’s morale is crumbling right now, and you should take them and retreat to the rear.”

“I refuse! In front of the Black Plague, there are only Nords who die in battle, not Nords who collapse!”

Colonel Duke coldly rejected the suggestion once again.

His gray-blue eyes swept towards the hills on the other side of the position, where the famous Transylvanian “meat grinder” Colonel Qin was patrolling the position with a group of People’s Army cavalry, which was the Transylvanian defense area, and the bones of jackals were not less than those on the Nords’ side, and had been more “artfully” made. The “artistic” processing.

All the heads of the jackals were chopped off and piled up on the left and right sides of the position, and the scarlet battle flag of Transylvania was planted on the “tower of skulls”, and there were also the heads of the jackals strung up on broken spears, as well as the strange “scepter” made by tying up the fluffy tails of jackals, fluttering in the wind, which looked both imposing and impressive. They look both majestic and barbaric.

There was something similar in the Nords’ position.

Obviously this is the result of the Yankees “learning” from the Transylvanians, the Yankee barbarians did even more excessive, and there are even soldiers and officers have begun to use the processed jackal skull to decorate their own armor and weapons.

At first glance, this position on the action of the soldiers is more like barbarians than the opposite side of the jackals.

“You guys are really competing, aren’t you?”

Fraser sighed:

“The scarlet consul of the Transylvanians once commented pungently that violence is the peacock’s tail of us stinking men, and I believe that now.

Your Excellency Duke, Transylvania has the Immortal Infernal Spirits, you can’t learn from their life-threatening methods of warfare”

“Why not?”

Colonel Duke snorted as he asked rhetorically:

“We have all the things those undead spirits have!
But it’s just ‘undeadness’, it’s not a mysterious thing in the realm of psychic energy, we invited the psychic witch grannies from the Northlands to come to the battlefield to collect the fresh souls of those warriors, maybe we’ll soon have our own ‘Winter Wolf Yingling’ as well. ” “You guys are crazy!”

Seeing that Colonel Duke had said such things, Fraser knew that he couldn’t persuade these crazy Yankees, and he didn’t waste any more time, he decisively said goodbye to Colonel Duke, and then led his guards and commanders to the bunker at the rear of the position to rest.

At this time there were still eight days short of the thirty day deadline for the Transylvanians to defend Desolation Mountain, and with the Valley of the Shadow already fallen, the last eight days would definitely have to be fought in an area with equally imperfect terrain, and this time with positions, so what was to follow would be an even bloodier battle of positional blockade.

At the same time that the Transylvanians were going mad, however, the stubborn Nords had gone to their heads, and with evacuation impossible for both sides, Colonel Fraser could do nothing more than accompany them in their madness.

It was not only the Nords who were repairing their castle.

Fraser knew that on the borders of the Cato region, the elite of the Pathfinder Legion mobilized by Marshal Loren and the servants of the Wolfsbane Clan were also scrambling to fortify the Dolrod Fortress complex on the western shore of Lake Thulpus.

In other words, Colonel Fraser had to buy time for his homeland behind him just the same, and what was even worse for the Goldfinchers was the fact that they were already considerably behind schedule compared to the progress of the Maginot Line and the Crimson Fortress.
This meant that once the Jackals were held back from breaking through the Maginot Line, then with Hügesen’s command, it would surely swing west to invade Cato!

As the old saying goes, there really isn’t much time left for the Goldfinches.
—
“Retreat? Why retreat!”

At the same time when the army of the Valley of Shadows retreated to the line of Baffent Canyon, the Blood Scarred Jackal Grand Inspector Haas, who had confronted Colonel Duke here for more than twenty days, also received an order from Old Manson.

This made Inspector Hass very upset, and with his arm still roughly bandaged, he slapped his weapon and got up to growl:

“I know our damage is a bit tragic, but the Nords on the other side are exhausted! Even if they have reinforcements from the Phantom Valley it doesn’t change the fact that we are gaining the upper hand.

Jackals recover at a much better rate than humans, and I only need three days to launch a more deadly attack on that damn defense!
I only need three days!”

“You’ve already wasted eight three days.”

From the tiger-skin marching bed across from Inspector Haas, the still somewhat weakened old Manson navigated a body that was not his own, and it spoke in a grim tone:

“You told me with confidence when you set out that you would break through the Nords’ defenses before Grand Inspector Hügson, and you dismissively commented that those Yankees were untouchable, but what happened?

Hüggesen took the Valley of the Shadow against such a huge disadvantage, and let his reputation as a Chosen One penetrate into the hearts of every Jackal, but you were blocked by the Nords from advancing an inch.

Aye! I know that on the opposite side is the Nord’s most elite Winter Wolf Legion, but is that your reason for fighting such a lousy battle? You have the largest number of hunting priests, I gave you the elite of the Blood Scar Clan, the Nords across the street don’t outnumber your soldiers, and they don’t have enough artillery.

But attacking such a far more rudimentary position than the Black Flame Pass took you more than twenty days to do.

The Blood Scar Clan’s face has been disgraced by you!
Now immediately take your soldiers and retreat at least thirty kilometers, I’m going to personally fix the mess you left behind.”

“Then what else do you want me to do?”

Inspector Haas was simply going crazy.

It was even so angry at this moment that it ignored the status gap between it and Manson, and it cursed:
“This is war, Manson! This isn’t you psychics playing those damn witchcrafts, the enemy’s will to fight is very strong, the Winter Wolf Legion used to deal with the Cesar Barbarians in the northern wilderness, that’s a much more ferocious opponent than the Jackals, they’re not afraid of us at all and they have a lot of experience in fighting large creatures.

Pressure tactics didn’t work on them at all, and fear tactics would just be eaten for breakfast!
It took me twenty days to wear down half of their army! Their soldiers are falling apart. I need only one attack to crush that position. I don’t need you interfering with command here, Lord Manson!

You’re just a hunting priest who serves the gods, you know nothing about marching and fighting, and the victories Hügsun has achieved have only been gained because you didn’t interfere with its command.

If you’re not a professional, don’t try to do what the Governor should be doing instead of me!”

“Asshole!”

Said the old Manson, and he didn’t like it.

What do you mean?
What do you mean I’m not good at fighting?

Are you calling me stupid?
And what do you mean I’m interfering with your command?

Bullshit!

Without the divine power of the Lord of the Hunt, could you have fought so well?

A bunch of assholes who put up their bowls to eat and put them down to curse!
Get lost!
Next, watch me show you guys some divine maneuvers!
“It’s been proven that you governors can’t defeat the Transylvanians, so it’s time to try the Spiritualist’s methods.”

Old Manson said indifferently:
“We’ll talk about the issue of you contradicting the high priests after the battle, Inspector Hass, now that you’re relieved of your duties, take your clan and roll over to Phantom Shadow Valley to report to Inspector Huegson.”

“You can’t do that! Manson.”

Inspector Haas shouted:
“The advantage is ours now, we just need to be patient and the enemy will automatically expose their weaknesses, now we have to be steady! Can’t take any chances! Hell, Manson, you’ll ruin our advantage. Don’t be impulsive! Hell!”

“Bring the arrogant bastard down!”

Old Manson didn’t want to hear the hussies bark anymore.

With a wave of its hand, two Hunting Chosen stepped forward to drive Inspector Hass away from the tent, of course the Inspector was not happy, but the status of the priests in the Blood Scar Clan was supreme, and Chief Amot did give Old Manson the power to dominate the front line, now that that old man wanted to take over the power, there wasn’t a single thing that Inspector Hass could do about it.

Damn!

Obviously it had pushed the deadbeat Nords to the brink of collapse, obviously only one step was needed .
“Hmph, the obnoxious guy has finally rolled.”

Old Manson narrowed his eyes and swept a glance at the quiet tent, he touched the strange piece of artifact called “Dimensional Treasure Diamond” placed on his waist, and called for the best hunting captain under the command of Hass Governor.

It asked:
“The dwarves have dug a tunnel nearby, haven’t they?”

“Yes, High Priest.”

That hunting captain replied with a frightened heart:
“According to our scouts’ returns, the Silver Dwarves have also dug the same complex pit system as the Valley of Shadows underneath Baphomet Canyon, and they clearly intend to replicate the Valley of Shadows’ battle method here.”

“They are thinking beautifully.”

Manson shook his tail, which was somewhat half-formed due to his “taking over”, and said in a grim tone:

“You go and find me a pit that can get close to the Nords’ defense line as fast as you can, the deeper the better, and the faster the better.”

That hunting captain didn’t dare to slack off and immediately turned around to do something.

Old Manson called over the other governors under Haas, and gave them orders, saying:

“Under the great guidance of the Lord of the Hunt, I am about to unleash a horrible spell that will destroy at once the pits that the Transylvanians have worked so hard to dig, and this spell will have an unimaginable effect on the ground nearby as well, so I ask you to retreat with your soldiers at once.

The Transians have run the pit through, this is simply heaven’s help, when my spell is successfully activated, you will immediately follow the pit and come back here again, and then the road to Transylvania will be completely open.

That will be a miracle of broken enemies belonging to us jackals! And the Lord of the Hunt will shelter you in a hundred battles.”

(End of chapter)