Zhan Long

Chapter 783 - Small Ranked Generals

“Han Yuan, Xiao Lie, atten hut!”

Before I even reached the formation, I shouted, “Take two thousand cavalrymen and two thousand foot soldiers and follow me. We’re going to go and kill some Hybrid Demons from the Revered One’s state and rescue the Flame Axe army!”

Han Yuan immediately nodded and shouted, “First and Second Cavalry squad, follow me!”

Xiao Lie immediately organized two thousand barbarian foot soldiers and marched straight out the camp. The speed at which the four thousand men got out of the formation was incredibly fast. In the blink of an eye, they were lined up right behind me. Xiao Lie shouted from afar, “Commander, what will we do?”

I replied, “Guard the formation!”

“Yes sir!”

……

Under the moonlight, my Dragon Reservoir Sword gleamed with a frightening light. I raised my hand and pulled out my Zhen Yue Blade and charged forth. I immediately cut down one of the critically wounded Revered One soldiers. I then directed my sword towards a Level 7 Hybrid Demon Decimator. That b*st*rd roared and turned around, swinging its battle axe like crazy. Even so, I didn’t waver and parried the blow. “Keng!” My Flying Scythe Horse slid back from the impact of the blow. The Decimator wasn’t much better off, and was thrown back three meters from my own blade. It roared and came at me again. I used a [Blade Rush] and pierced right through its throat. The other Royal Army soldiers who were close by began to hack away at the monster. With another sweep of my sword, the Decimator screeched and fell to the ground.

Before us, the endless Revered Ones continued cutting down the running Flame Axe soldiers. After this battle, the Flame Axe soldiers numbers had been cut in half currently. But if we let the Flame Dragon Army continue their rain of arrows, I’m afraid that there would be few survivors.

I watched as arrows fell from the sky, killing both the Flame Axe soldiers and the Hybrid Demons. I could see the goosebumps rising on Han Yuan’s skin and I could hear the sorrow in his voice, “How did this happen?”

I swung my sword and shouted, “Stop the arrows! I will hold off the Revered One’s armies!”

Even so, arrows still flew into the air behind the Flame Dragon army’s flaming red shields. Do they not follow the orders of a general!?

“Kill!”

Han Yuan lead the charge, but before long, several Royal Army cavalrymen fell under the rain of arrows shot by the Flame Dragon Army. Were those ruthless b*st*rds going to kill my men like the Flame Axe Army?

……

I stopped thinking as much and charged towards the Flame Axe formation. “Peng!” I rammed right into their shield wall, knocking down a group of the soldiers. I then threw a Seven Star Fragment Slash into the group of archers, only harming them. They all gaped at me. I pulled out my stars and shouted, “I am the general of the Royal Army, Li Xiao Yao. Under orders from his royal highness, I am here to fight the Revered One’s army. If you dare make another move, I will kill you along with them!”

They were all stupefied. They were the number one army in Tian Ling City, and were spoken of as heroes and noblemen. There probably wasn’t a single person in Tian Ling City that would dare raise a sword against them. Today, however, I dared to. Furthermore, I carried the arrow of his royal highness, forcing them to bow before me.

Among the crowd, a supervisor murmured, “I just received the orders to stop the arrows. Please, General Li, do not place the blame on us!”

I gave him a curt nod and turned back to face the enemy with Han Yuan and Xiao Lie.

Even though we only had four thousand men, our battle power was much stronger than the Flame Axe army. Especially the barbarian foot soldiers. These immensely strong barbarians held heavy shields and blades. Normal people wouldn’t even be able to pick them up, much less fight with them. As such, one could imagine the defensive power that those shields contained. Furthermore, the weight of their blades only added to their battle potential. One after another, heads of the Revered One’s soldiers went flying. There was experience to be taken, even as these soldiers were killing the enemy. The higher the level of the enemy, the more experience. In other words, as long as the Royal Army soldiers didn’t die and I lead them to victory, then they’d become just as strong as a BOSS’ existence. Just what kind of a future would that be?

Not only was I starting to feel my heart beat with excitement, the beckoning of battle further made my blood boil as I hacked through the crowd. Despite all of this, there were still many Royal Army soldiers being cut down behind me. This battle was completely a life for a life type situation.

Around twenty minutes later, we managed to cover long enough for all twenty thousand remaining Flame Axe soldiers to retreat. The Royal Army had lost several hundred people. I turned my horse around and shouted, “Turn back! Leave the rest to the Flame Dragon Army!”

Han Yuan said, “That’s right. Why should we give our lives for those cold blooded b*st*rds of the Flame Dragon Army!?”

We led our troops back to our camp. I could see that countless Revered One’s soldiers were still coming ashore. The foot soldier camp had already created a defense formation. The heavy iron shields and the extremely strong barbarians wouldn’t easily allow the formation to fall. Furthermore, the skilled warriors and archers all switched to their long bows so that they could shoot long range through the armor of the warriors.

Not long after, a group of men and horses charged over. They looked extremely familiar. It was Li Mu, Wang Jian and the other Zhan Long cavalry! They had come to cut down the Hybrid Demons. Li Mu smiled, “Xiao Yao, vice guildmaster Wan Er wanted us to come here and assist the Royal Army. Where should we form the defense line?”

I pointed to the left with my sword and said, “Right there. I’m thinking the NPC camp won’t be able to hold much longer. This way, we can give them some more support. Just stuff the entire [Zhan Long] camp there. They’ll be able to serve just as the Royal Army is right now.”

“Yes sir!”

Han Yuan looked over at the Steel Blade Horsemen with shock and exclaimed, “General, these… These elite adventurers look very skilled. Are they your soldiers?”

I wryly smiled, “They are all my brothers and friends. Don’t worry, with them, the Royal Army will be safe!”

“Alright!” I could see a strong glimmer of hope in his eyes. It looked like the arrival of [Zhan Long] had increased the soldiers’ morale quite a bit.

……

Guarding the frontlines, I continuously killed monsters, gaining more and more achievement points. Basically, every 1-3 Hybrid Demons I killed lead to one achievement point. It was a somewhat slow process. It looked like relying on killing monsters for a promotion wasn’t going to be an easy task.

The Revered One’s army’s came at us like an endless river. We had killed an amount equal to an entire army before the boats in the distance began to lesson. The Revered One’s warriors that were on the shore had mostly been killed. Even so, the Tian Ling City armies’ losses were also quite heavy. The Flame Dragon Army and the Xiao Yu Army had both lost over ten thousand men. Quite a few of the players in the player camp also died. After dying, they couldn’t enter the battlefield for another 25 hours. That was a very sad prospect.

At the very least, [Zhan Long]’s losses were bearable. We only lost four thousand. There was no helping it anyway, we had basically brought the entire guild here.

Before we had the chance to console ourselves over the death of our comrades, the messenger dashed back into the Royal Army camp and shouted, “Generals, please report to the center tent.”

There was no other way. I turned around to leave. The Flying Scythe Horse charged towards the center tent. On the way, my horse trampled over countless bodies that littered the ground. They were Hybrid Demon and Tian Ling soldiers alike. The sand had been dyed red with blood. Broken weapons lay scattered all over the ground. Under the moonlight, the landscape was truly a tragic scene.

I walked into the military tent with my sword. King Rob calmly sat on the throne and didn’t say a word. Princess Pearl slightly bit her lip as I went to her side.

Soon after, Theodore and Owen both arrived in the military tent. I could tell that the two prince’s armor had been exchanged for fresh sets. The embroidery that was sewn into the cape gleamed enchantingly under the light. Most of the other generals were also noblemen, dressed in finery. The only different ones were the marquis of the Flame Axe Army and me. The Marquis had lost a hand and was covered in blood, while my armor was covered in slashes and dents. Even my battle robe was covered in dried blood and several tears. The Dragon Reservoir Sword in my hand dripped with fresh blood.

……

The marquis quietly sat on a chair. Normally, someone of his status wouldn’t receive such special treatment. It was most likely due to the fact that he was wounded. Robert stood by his side. The difference between him and his father was that Robert’s battle gear didn’t have a drop of blood. He was the first to order the Flame Axe Army to retreat, and he was also the first to run.

After looking around the tent, Princess Pearl smiled. She said, “Generals and Colonels, everyone present is dressed so cleanly and nicely, what a rare sight. Why is it that Li Xiao Yao was the only one able to lead his troops against the fearsome Hybrid Demons and be able to pull out?”

The general of the Fierce Thunder Army, Lee’ mouth twitched. He pulled on the red silk on his arm and said, “Your highness, that’s not entirely true. There are other, smaller ranked generals who can take our places on the battlefield. There was no need for us to go out and fight with the smaller soldiers. That is because we understood how to utilize our position in the army to raise the morale of the soldiers, rather than act impulsively!”

Pearl smirked, “General Lee, dare I ask how many soldiers the Fierce Thunder army lost in that battle? And how many of the enemy did they kill?”

Lee’ face grew pale and he reported, “Twenty thousand of our men were wounded, and we lost seventeen thousand… We must’ve killed around three thousand?”

Pearl then asked, “General Li Xiao Yao, tell him how many the Royal Army killed.”

With a straight face, he replied. “Reporting to your highness, the Royal Army lost two thousand three hundred soldiers and killed five thousand Hybrid Demons!”

“General Lee, did you hear that?!”

Pearl slapped the table and said, “All day long, you each think of yourselves as the heroes of Tian Ling City, bragging about your greatness. And yet, you’re lax in the upkeep of your armies, letting them loose. Do not make any excuses before us. After this battle, I want every army in this nation to start instituting some changes. As for the promotion and demotion of rankings, I will discuss those with Father.”

All of the generals’ faces fell. Everyone knew just how important this battle was, but nobody would have predicted that Pearl would act so callously. After this battle, there would probably be a great shift in the balance of power between the noble families.

……

Shock spread across Lee’ expression. He immediately knelt to the ground and wailed, “Your highness… I am guilty, I did not exert enough effort. I ask that your highness give me a chance to atone for my crimes with an achievement!”

King Rob smiled reassuringly to him, “General Lee, there’s no need to panic. Stand up. The Revered One’s troops have already killed over seventy thousand of our men. I want to see just what kind of ace Luo Lin has hidden up his sleeve!”

Before he even finished speaking, we heard a terrifying screech from across the ocean. We could even faintly hear some men screaming with all their might——

“D*mm*t, those Fishmen have gone crazy!!”