Night Raid (Part 3)

　　The Altheus Highlands, located in the northeastern part of the empire, were chilled by the night breeze, despite it being summer. The Grand Duke Philip shivered, a strange unease welling up within him, a feeling he had never experienced during his military career. The national flags of various countries fluttered loudly in the wind, while the endless darkness ahead seemed like a giant beast, ready to devour his troops.

　　The sense of foreboding grew stronger. Philip glanced back at his mighty army; he had a force of 100,000. Even though those cursed barbarians on the other side were all mages, magic had its limits. After the day's battle, their magical energy must have been depleted. Moreover, on the continent of St. Roland, it was no easy task to train a mage. Smaller principalities could barely afford a mid-level mage, and even an empire like Byzantium had only a handful. The empire's sole Grand Archmage served as a religious advisor sent by the Light Church to the royal family. Across the continent, it was said that there were only a few tens of thousands of registered mages in the Magic Guild. Philip II was certain that the opposing side had deployed all of its elite mages, which was the main reason he dared to continue the attack after the day's crushing defeat.

　　Although the coalition army couldn't afford the luxury of mages, they had over 10,000 warriors of the third rank and above, and thousands of elite fifth-rank fighters. These were the cream of the coalition forces, the very source of Philip's confidence in crushing the green-clad barbarians. After all, mages were generally weak in physical combat. Once a warrior got close, the mage was usually finished. In this battle, the coalition had to charge into the enemy's lines at all costs.

　　But why had there been no signal from the Leopard Clan troops, who had been lurking for so long? Philip was puzzled. He looked ahead and suddenly saw a dazzling display of beams, like meteors in the night sky, rapidly approaching. These beams streaked across the sky, beautiful yet alarming.

　　Philip and his army were stunned. What were those things? As the beams grew closer, the coalition could hear a sharp whistling sound. Philip finally realized the danger: the enemy was attacking!

　　"Enemy attack! Spread out, everyone scatter!"

　　Although Philip reacted quickly, the rockets from the special forces moved even faster. The massive, orderly formation of the coalition army became the perfect target. Fifty 89-type rocket launchers fired simultaneously, raining thousands of rockets down like a fiery storm onto the coalition lines.

　　Boom! Boom! Boom!

　　Explosions erupted everywhere, leaving the coalition forces in disarray. Flames erupted across the battlefield, and soldiers were thrown into the air by the blasts.

　　Before the coalition could respond, the artillery of the special forces also opened fire. Under the guidance of fire-control radar, shells accurately hit the coalition forces.

　　"Scatter, break formation, charge!" The overwhelming firepower terrified Philip. Could such power even come from humans? Even divine weapons couldn't be this terrifying.

　　The barrage of artillery made the ground tremble. The Altheus Highlands were filled with explosions and the screams of coalition soldiers. Countless troops were blown apart. What kind of force was this? Were the green-clad soldiers from another world sent by the goddess of light as divine punishment?

　　The coalition's formation was completely shattered. Reconnaissance helicopters flew over the battlefield. Night vision wasn't even needed anymore, as the constant barrage of rockets and bombs had lit up the entire Altheus Highlands like daytime.

　　Mighty warriors? Mages? In the face of these weapons, even a Grand Archmage from the Church would be blown away. Philip II finally understood the gap between his army and the enemy, a chasm as deep and insurmountable as the abyss of the underworld.

　　But Philip II would not die in shame. If he had to die, he would die on the enemy's ground, to at least catch a glimpse of the force opposing him. After all, he was the king of Bavaria, the Lion of the Earth!

　　"Charge!" Philip II rode ahead, swinging his sword and leading his remaining troops toward the special forces' position, braving the artillery fire.

　　Boom! Boom! Boom!

　　Shells exploded around Philip, and soldiers were torn apart, their flesh and blood flying through the air. The deafening explosions made him wish for death, but he gritted his teeth. For the fragile honor in his heart, he pressed forward. At the very least, he wanted to plunge his sword into the enemy's position before dying.

　　After losing nearly a third of his men, he and the remnants of his forces finally reached the Altheus Highlands.

　　But what he saw nearly made him doubt his very existence. What were those enormous steel beasts, proudly advancing toward him? The corpses of the Leopard Clan warriors from the Gis Principality littered the ground, riddled with bloody holes.

　　The steel beasts' long barrels spat deadly flames, and with each explosion, his army dwindled further.

　　It was all true. The stories told by the soldiers who had fled from the Gate of Transfer were true. The other world really had fire-spewing steel monsters. His arrogance had blinded him. Now, his only choice was how to die with honor.

　　Philip's armor was covered in soot. He smiled, a bitter smile amidst the artillery fire. With all his remaining strength, he raised his sword and charged toward the tank. A deafening explosion followed, and Philip lost consciousness.

　　Against the unstoppable mechanical force, the flesh and blood of the coalition soldiers were like ants being crushed underfoot. Even the bravest warriors, wielding swords and spears, were powerless against the tanks. After a futile attempt to strike the tanks, they left not a scratch. Human bodies could not stop the tanks, and the special forces soldiers dismounted from their armored vehicles, mowing down the remaining coalition soldiers with automatic fire.

　　This was a classic combined arms operation, with the helicopters in the air providing support. The coalition was utterly defeated, unable to mount any effective counterattack. Now, the special forces were focused on chasing down and eliminating the remnants of the enemy forces.

　　In the temporary command center, Zhang Tianya watched the real-time battlefield updates, shaking his head in dissatisfaction. He muttered to himself, "Where's the information warfare? The electronic warfare? Why is this still the same old mechanized warfare?"

　　Yuan Qinyu, standing nearby, was speechless. Wasn't the live battlefield broadcast electronic warfare? Wasn't direct command of small units information warfare? Unable to take it anymore, Yuan Qinyu finally spoke up, "Commander, the other side doesn't even have electricity, so don't expect information or electronic warfare."

　　"You're right." Zhang Tianya turned and smacked Yuan Qinyu on the head. "You talk too much!"

　　The war was almost over. Apart from a few skirmishes, most of the special forces were now cleaning up the battlefield.

　　The entire Altheus Highlands was riddled with craters, like the surface of the moon, with coalition corpses strewn all around. Some soldiers frowned—how would they deal with so many bodies later?

　　In the end, more than 20,000 coalition soldiers escaped into the complex terrain of the northwestern mountains. The special forces did not pursue, as they had not yet fully scouted the area. Still, the special forces had achieved a decisive victory, annihilating over 70,000 coalition troops and capturing more than 5,000 prisoners. Zhang Tianya ordered all the prisoners to be held together. When Yuan Qinyu asked where they would house so many prisoners, Zhang Tianya grinned, "Let them cut wood and build their own houses!"

　　News of the victory reached home, shocking the leadership. A force of 7,000 special forces had defeated an army of 100,000. Although the other side was still in the cold weapons era, this was an astounding victory. However, since the special forces' actions on the other side of the Gate of Transfer were top secret, the news of the victory was not made public.

　　Despite their shock, the leadership was filled with joy. The top leader, after reading Zhang Tianya's proposal for actions in the new world, called in his office secretary and said, "Commend the entire special forces unit, and send a secret message to Wang Chaoyang, informing him that I've read Zhang Tianya's proposal. In principle, I agree with it. Tell Wang Chaoyang to inform Zhang Tianya that the special forces' first battle demonstrated the might of our people's army. However, our policy toward the other side is still focused on peaceful development. How to engage with them, Zhang Tianya can decide. But if they dare invade again, tell Zhang Tianya to crush them until they submit!"