Chapter 262 - 157: Meat Grinder
On the other side of the battlefield, after various frontline skirmishes and artillery exchanges, Mei Yuan had to admit the truth. The Sniper Corps’ cannons, which at first glance seemed low-grade, had actually undergone some unknown modification, making them at least mid-grade. Their range was greater than his Catapults, and their power was superior.
’Since our Catapults can’t win in a direct exchange with their cannons, we’ll have to send men to support the Catapult crews.’
And so, varying numbers of Shield Soldiers were stationed in front of each Catapult.
Whenever the cannons fired a Fireball, the waiting Shield Soldiers would advance and raise their shields to block it.
With the aid of the Shield Soldiers, the Northern Expedition Legion’s Catapults were finally able to match the Sniper Corps’ cannons in an even exchange.
It didn’t matter that their firepower was still somewhat weaker, or that a few Shield Soldiers died from time to time.
After all, the Northern Expedition Legion had soldiers in abundance, and these troops were already considered expendable.
The lords who had surrendered their command authority didn’t care if these soldiers lived or died, and the ones possessed by Eye Demons cared even less.
At the end of the month, the Eye Demons would abandon their current hosts and return to the Eye Demon Lord’s domain. It was of no consequence to them how many soldiers under their command perished.
With the problem of the ultra-long-range heavy artillery dealt with, Mei Yuan prepared to launch a major offensive.
His army of seven million had been reduced by about a million, but he still had six million troops under his complete control.
He believed that even if his troops were weaker on average, their total strength was by no means inferior to that of the Sniper Corps.
So Mei Yuan mobilized roughly 500,000 soldiers for the main assault, with another million held in reserve.
The 500,000 soldiers were divided into front and rear formations.
The first formation consisted of 400,000 soldiers, comprised of 200,000 Shield Soldiers and 200,000 ranged units.
The second formation was made up of 100,000 assorted support Casters, responsible for applying buffs and healing the soldiers fighting on the front lines.
Simultaneously, the soldiers of both formations were further divided into countless small squads, with each squad containing units from both the front and rear formations.
The members of each squad had, for the most part, originally served under the same lord. This circumvented the issue of poor coordination that would arise from a lack of joint training.
Moreover, this allowed the healers in the rear to better treat and support the soldiers at the front, preventing wasted healing on a single soldier or a wounded soldier being overlooked entirely.
Once this arrangement was finalized, the soldiers’ morale saw a significant boost.
Fighting alongside familiar comrades greatly increased their sense of security.
"Attack!!"
At Mei Yuan’s command, the formations, long since prepared, began their advance.
The Shield Soldiers in the front rank unleashed their skills. Those of the same type gathered together to use the same ability in unison. While they lacked the power of Yun Qihao’s Giant Shield Guards to form a single, unified barrier, their synchronized skills easily overlapped, creating rows of seemingly indestructible defensive walls.
The ranged units followed behind the Shield Soldiers, advancing step by step toward the Sniper Corps’ position.
Fireballs launched from the Sniper Corps’ cannons slammed into these defensive walls, erupting in showers of sparks.
The defending Sniper Corps, for their part, stood ready.
Massive numbers of Shield Soldiers formed a line in front of the main encampments. They had all activated their strongest defensive skills, raising countless Protective Shields.
Behind them, the ranged units stood in formation, waiting for the Northern Expedition Legion to enter their firing range.
Likewise, countless Magic Giant Stones rained down on these Protective Shields, shattering into rubble upon impact. Others missed, landing on the ground only to be crushed into fragments by the subsequent volleys.
...
Amidst the fierce exchange of Fireballs and Magic Giant Stones, the Northern Expedition Legion’s Shield Soldiers finally entered the firing range of the Sniper Corps’ ranged units.
Instantly, a rain of arrows descended and Fireballs blotted out the sky. An overwhelming wave of attacks flew toward the Shield Soldiers.
Many Shield Soldiers had their defenses shattered instantly and were killed by the overwhelming assault.
However, the Shield Soldiers behind them immediately stepped up to fill the gaps.
Of course, at the same time, the Sniper Corps’ own Shield Soldiers had entered the firing range of the Northern Expedition Legion’s ranged units.
They too faced a massive barrage of ranged attacks from the Northern Expedition Legion.
The overwhelming attack shattered the defenses of a portion of their front rank. And just like on the other side, as soon as a Shield Soldier fell, another from the rear would immediately take their place.
The Shield Soldiers holding the front lines on both sides were ordinary troops. The Northern Expedition Legion’s were predominantly of Excellent grade, while the Sniper Corps’ were mostly of Exceptional grade. The grade advantage for the Sniper Corps’ Shield Soldiers wasn’t particularly significant.
Faced with such instantaneous, overwhelming damage, the Shield Soldiers on both sides were completely unable to endure it. Healers in the rear had no time to react; once a Shield Soldier’s defense was broken, they died instantly.
"Damn, they’re using focused fire too?"
The commanders on both sides couldn’t help but shout the same thing.
Focused fire was, indeed, the most effective tactic for this battle. Shield Soldiers below Legendary rank lacked skills like "Linked Shield Wall," which could join their defensive abilities together. Against such an attack, they were utterly defenseless.
However, despite knowing their troops couldn’t hold, neither commander ordered their Shield Soldiers to retreat. Every step back meant the enemy’s line would advance, leaving less room to maneuver and making their own position even more precarious.
At this point, it was a battle of attrition—a contest of who would break first.
Relatively speaking, the Northern Expedition Legion’s Shield Soldiers were suffering slightly higher casualties, but not by a significant margin.