Chapter 835: Chapter 20: Moonlight Illuminates the Bones
The Northern Border Army that had invaded the Northern Barbarians, with the vanguard, had already reached the deepest point previously cleared by the Green Frost Army.
This place was less than twenty kilometers in a straight line from the main camp of the Dream Lion Clan.
After the vanguard arrived, they didn’t immediately launch an attack, instead, they began building defensive structures and setting up tents.
They waited until after 4:00 PM when the main forces arrived one after another.
Prince Cheng issued the command to attack!
The first to enter the dense forest ahead were not warriors…
Boom boom boom boom boom boom boom——
Bombs, carried by turbulent airflows, soared into the skies, tracing parabolic paths before finally falling into the dense forest.
Three hundred portable mortars fired simultaneously! ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs, ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ ᴠɪsɪᴛ novel✶fire.net
The towering ancient trees were blasted apart, dense ferns shattered into pieces, and dust filled the sky.
The previously set traps, hidden poisonous insects, wild beasts, and wilderness warriors in the forest were all blown to pieces.
Under the artillery fire, all creatures were equal!
Pillar the attack with artillery bombardments first and then send soldiers with rifles in formation to charge.
This strategy was the most used by the Western Alliance Army during their initial invasion of the Great Lan Dynasty, a technique now mastered by the Great Lan Dynasty.
Unfortunately, the portable mortars carried by the Northern Border Army had a maximum range of only three kilometers, unable to cover the entire dense forest ahead.
After five rounds of artillery bombardment, upon Prince Cheng’s command, more than three thousand vanguard troops charged into the forest!
All these warriors chose to wear pistols at their waists and hold battle knives in their hands.
In the wilderness jungle, with so many obstacles, knives were more practical than guns.
The leading warriors first scattered a large cloud of insect-repellent powder to ward off poisonous bugs and snakes, then used special machetes to hack through the encountered ferns, clearing a path for their comrades behind.
The ferns were dense and flourishing, found everywhere.
Thus, in this wilderness jungle, there was no road; one could only carve out a path!
With only the last twenty kilometers left to the main base of the Dream Lion Clan, Prince Cheng no longer let the Green Frost Army lead the way.
The previous path clearing had significantly depleted the Green Frost Army, and unless absolutely necessary, Prince Cheng would not use any more of the Green Frost Army’s strength.
Prince Cheng planned to pave this final stretch to the Dream Lion Clan’s main base with artillery, blood, and bones!
The Northern Border Army, despite guarding the frontier for many years, had little experience fighting in the wilderness jungle, mostly intercepting enemies in towns, valleys, and plains outside.
Prince Cheng needed this ‘warm-up battle’ to gradually accustom the soldiers to the battle rhythm to come.
At the same time, this was also time deliberately left for the Dream Lion Clan.
If they quickly wiped out the Dream Lion Clan, how would they lure out their true target?
In the jungle, a squad of border warriors in leather armor, wearing helmets and wielding battle knives, treaded cautiously.
Beneath their feet lay the severed ferns.
As they passed a large tree, a thin blow dart silently shot out from the lush branches above, precisely striking a warrior’s neck.
The hit warrior felt a numbness in his neck, thinking he was bitten by an insect, and instinctively reached to feel it, immediately realizing something was wrong.
His expression unchanged, he was about to shout when suddenly, dizziness overwhelmed him, and he collapsed to the ground, foaming at the mouth!
Gunfire echoed through the jungle.
The squad of border warriors swiftly drew their pistols from their waists, firing at the branches above.
In the process, another warrior was hit in the neck by a blow dart, collapsing to the ground.
After the gunfire, the branch above rustled, and a figure leaped down from the tree, diving into the dense foliage, disappearing in a flash.
“Save the wounded first!”
In the dense forest, gunfire, cries of alarm, roars of anger, and screams rang out from other areas.
There were Northern Barbarian warriors hiding in the trees, among the dense plants, and even underground…
These hidden Northern Barbarian warriors used poisoned blow darts, crossbow arrows, spears, and other weapons to ambush, firing and fleeing without lingering.
Ordinary border warriors, facing such situations, found it hard to retaliate in time; only the martial artists among them had the chance to counter-attack.
Fortunately, this vanguard had a high percentage of martial artists, much higher than the Northern Barbarian warriors hidden in ambush.
Combined with the earlier artillery bombardment that destroyed much of the Northern Barbarian’s arrangements and caused nearly half of their casualties, the border army’s vanguard continued to advance relentlessly.
As more and more border forces entered the battlefield, the large swathes of vegetation were cut down, reducing the hiding and shifting spaces for the wilderness warriors, and their casualties increased, forcing them to abandon this battlefield and retreat backward.
Until nightfall, the might of the Northern Border Army only advanced three kilometers.
Prince Cheng ordered the whole army to rest, starting to build fires and cook meals.
On the border line, the Savage Killing Army, totaling over seven thousand men, had already been stationed here three days ago.
Unlike the army led by Prince Cheng, the Savage Killing Army had only three thousand six hundred Imperial Camp Army soldiers and three thousand five hundred twenty-seven Blue Patrol Pavilion martial artists, with no civilian laborers whatsoever.
All supplies were carried by themselves.
A martial artist’s sustenance can be maintained through the Replenishing Essence Elixir; a tiny pill sustains a warrior’s non-combat consumption for an entire day.
So, this Savage Killing Army entirely composed of martial artists did not need to carry a large amount of heavy rations, only needing enough elixir and ample water.