novelraw Chapter 223 : Third Defensive Zone
Chapter 223 : Third Defensive Zone
Chapter 223: Third Defensive Zone
The Southern Army had established its defense line at Ashak-Rorylan, marking it as a standard strategic defensive zone due to its significant value as a strategic location.
This zone was further divided into four major defensive areas. Among them, the First and Fourth Defensive Zones belonged to the rear and basic defensive zones, respectively. In terms of military importance, these could be classified as tactical zones, corresponding to the second and third tiers in the echelon system—thus considered secondary zones.
But the Second and Third Defensive Zones were different.
As the main battlegrounds targeted by the Aust Empire’s offensive, these two zones were quintessential frontline defenses. In terms of military importance, they equated to campaign-level zones, as the outcome of the defense of Rorylan Territory hinged upon them. Therefore, both were classified as primary zones of first-tier value.
The defense areas of the four zones were roughly demarcated based on three villages.
First and Fourth Defensive Zones aside, the Second and Third Defensive Zones were located ten kilometers west of Berwell Village, on the left and right respectively: the left being the Second Defensive Zone, and the right the Third. Berwell Village was considered a rear defense point and served as a supply relay station, transporting materials to the Second and Third Defensive Zones.
Each of the two main zones covered about one hundred and fifty square kilometers, with stationed forces of approximately ten thousand troops.
The First and Fourth Defensive Zones were relatively smaller in scale, as they weren’t primary battlegrounds.
In total, the Southern Army of the Tyrella Kingdom had deployed over forty thousand troops in the northwestern part of Rorylan Territory. In an adjacent barony to the north of Rorylan Territory, another twenty thousand troops were deployed in scattered garrisons. Their primary role was to ensure the soldiers in field hospitals and convalescent camps were not slaughtered. However, due to their dispersed deployment, they could at most mobilize only about three thousand troops in a short time to reinforce the Fourth Defensive Zone.
The Aust Empire’s offensive against this line of defense was not reckless.
Through repeated charges and flanking maneuvers, they had successfully pierced the Fourth Defensive Zone, forcing the Southern Army to deploy emergency reinforcements—troops from the northern barony that served as field hospitals and recovery camps. These reinforcements were dispatched in batches. However, wary of a “luring the tiger away from the mountain” trap, they could only send five thousand troops for support and were even forced to conscript a group of wounded soldiers back into combat.
After exhausting the Southern Army’s reserves, the Aust Empire launched a fierce offensive against the Second and Third Defensive Zones, with the brunt of the assault focused on the Second. In just one month, over fifteen thousand corpses were left behind in that area, reducing the Second Defensive Zone’s forces nearly to depletion. In desperation, the Southern Army had to redeploy all remaining reserves from Berwell Village to reinforce the Second Defensive Zone.
Soon after, Aust forces shifted their attack toward the Southern Army’s field hospitals, forcing the three thousand soldiers who had previously reinforced and co-defended the Fourth Defensive Zone to rapidly retreat. But they were ambushed without hesitation. The three thousand suffered devastating losses, with fewer than one thousand making it back, effectively cutting off the northern barony’s ability to reinforce the Fourth Defensive Zone.
Under these circumstances, when the Aust Empire once again turned its guns toward the Fourth Defensive Zone, the Southern Army had no choice but to deploy even its logistics units to the front lines.
Thus, when the Southern Army’s commanders suddenly realized that the Third Defensive Zone had never suffered a major assault—that this had been the enemy’s deliberate "luring the tiger away" stratagem—it was already too late. The Third Defensive Zone was engulfed in a brutal 48-hour battle: the Aust Empire launched full-scale assaults in eight continuous waves. In just two days, the Third Zone’s ten thousand troops were reduced to five thousand.
Although Aust left nearly ten thousand corpses behind, they had massed over a hundred thousand troops in this direction. Even after suffering over twenty-five thousand casualties in the assaults on the Second and Fourth Defensive Zones and the northern barony, they still had close to fifty thousand troops remaining. If they were to conscript all the wounded regardless of morale or health, they could amass a force exceeding sixty thousand.
But fortunately—
The Aust Empire could not afford to commit all fifty thousand troops to a single zone, as doing so would allow the Southern Army to concentrate their forces for a decisive battle. The First Defensive Zone still had five thousand intact troops.
The Second Zone now had close to eight thousand, the Third five thousand, and the Fourth three thousand, totaling twenty-one thousand. With the remaining forces and mobilized wounded from Berwell Village, they could potentially gather nearly thirty thousand.
To prevent the Southern Army’s thirty thousand troops from uniting for a decisive confrontation, the Aust Empire was compelled to divide their forces and engage in a tug-of-war with the Second and Fourth Defensive Zones, dragging them into a state of barely maintaining their own positions.
And that—was exactly the Southern Army’s misfortune.
Because the Aust Empire had completely figured out the strengths and weaknesses of the Second and Fourth Defensive Zones, today they could storm the Third Defensive Zone while paralyzing the other two; tomorrow, they could storm the Second and Fourth Zones just as easily.
The Southern Army had no way of predicting which zone the enemy’s main force would strike next. Due to the dire situation in the Second and Fourth Zones, it was entirely possible the Aust forces could shift their supporting attacks into main offensives. So even if the current battles in those zones weren’t as intense, the commanders didn’t dare relax, nor could they respond to the Third Zone’s call for reinforcements.
They could only watch helplessly as the Third Defensive Zone was gradually overwhelmed.
Watch as their comrades fell one after another.
A young man slashed down two Aust Empire soldiers who had breached the camp and then shouted, 「Don’t panic! All soldiers, rally to me.」
His voice carried a calm determination that seemed to steady the nerves of the surrounding Tyrella soldiers, many of whom began to gather around him instinctively.
The young man looked at the raging flames around him, his heart sinking deeper.
He knew all too well that the enemy had already broken into the main camp, meaning the two outer sub-camps had been utterly destroyed.
But as the Sword Unit Combat Commander, he could not afford to show any hint of despair—doing so would only accelerate the collapse of morale.
A standard combat zone would usually depend on fortresses and strongholds to form a defensive network.
But fortresses required years to build.
Therefore, the best option for rapidly constructing a defense system in a zone was to use wooden fortifications soaked in tung oil and coated with wood tar.
However, since selecting precise locations for such structures was extremely demanding, the Third Defensive Zone’s commander had abandoned this plan and instead built a network of camps to share defensive responsibilities: constructing multiple small camps around the central main camp, all with similar defensive and surveillance functions. These smaller camps monitored the perimeter, conducted patrols, and provided limited defensive capability. Because of their close proximity, they could quickly reinforce each other when under attack.
Normally, every three to four small camps formed a sub-defensive system.
These sub-systems acted as the eyes and ears of the main camp—and as its protective shell: as long as they existed, the enemy could not bypass them and directly assault the command center. Doing so would expose their backs to the attack range of these sub-defensive positions.
Although nearly all of these sub-defensive systems had suffered heavy or even devastating damage during the past week’s brutal fighting, being made of wood, they weren’t difficult to repair. And with the decreasing number of troops, the defense perimeter kept shrinking, oddly creating a new balance of defense.
Until today.
Somehow, the enemy had broken through the sub-defense systems and launched a full-scale assault on the main camp. They received no warnings from the outer camps and were thrown into chaos.
Next to the Sword Unit’s camp was the Spear Unit’s.
As a main battlefield force, the Spear Unit always suffered the heaviest losses.
The main camp was divided into zones based on unit type, which made it easier to organize troops for battle. But now, that division had become a vulnerability—the enemy could clearly identify which zones to strike.
「Let’s go rescue our spear-wielding brothers!」
The Sword Unit Combat Commander raised his voice to rally morale. He knew this was the only way to calm soldiers who had just endured panic and confusion. 「Raise our battle flag high—we must not let it fall! We’ll soak it red with the enemy’s blood!」
Under the leadership of this combat commander, the Sword Unit soldiers—who had just emerged from chaos and had already stabilized—began rapidly forming up, then followed their combat commander as they charged toward the neighboring camp—there was only a single fence separating the Sword Unit Camp and the Spear Unit Camp, but if they went around through the main gate, they would have to take a large detour. At this moment, the entire camp was engulfed in flames, so the combat commander simply kicked down the wooden fence wall that had been burned black and had completely lost its structural support, then led everyone charging through.
The combat commander of the Spear Unit Camp was a middle-aged brawny man with well-developed muscles in both arms.
He had already seen from afar the brothers from the neighboring camp kicking down the wooden fence and charging into his territory, but at this moment he had no mind to greet them. That was because dozens of cavalry and several hundred Aust soldiers were rampaging through his camp, slaughtering and destroying everything, constantly creating chaos and spreading it further.
At this moment, several cavalrymen were charging straight toward him.
「Come on, you bunch of Aust dogs!」
The Spear Unit Combat Commander grabbed a long spear, crouched his body, gripped the spear tightly with both hands, and stared fixedly at the cavalryman charging at the front, silently calculating the distance between them.
Then—
He suddenly lunged forward like a leopard pouncing on its prey, thrusting the long spear from his waist straight into the first cavalryman charging toward him.
The tremendous inertia directly lifted the cavalryman into the air, and under his face filled with disbelief—accompanied by the Spear Unit Combat Commander’s near-distorted, ferocious roar—the rider and horse were torn apart, then viciously flung to the right, smashing into another cavalryman who had also been charging toward him. Immediately after, using the recoil from the impact, he swung the impaled cavalryman on the spear once more toward his left.
With a crisp sound of bones snapping, the cavalryman used as a hammer had his waist broken on the spot, but he also smashed into the horse of the second cavalryman following closely behind on the left, knocking man and mount flat to the ground.
After that, the combat commander fell backward onto the ground, narrowly avoiding several blades slashing toward him.
Seven cavalry charged in—after just a single frontal clash, they left behind three corpses and two horses.
But the remaining four clearly had no intention of avenging their fallen comrades. They swiftly rode away, merging with another group of Aust Empire soldiers who were still setting fires ahead.
「Cowards!」
The Spear Unit Combat Commander quickly climbed up from the ground and prepared himself for a counter-charge, but when he realized this was the situation instead, he could only spit disdainfully, then curse viciously: 「Spineless pieces of shit.」
After the outburst, seemingly still unsatisfied, he lifted his leg and kicked up a long spear. Catching it one-handed without even aiming, he merely made a slight toss with his right hand, adjusted his grip mid-motion, and violently hurled the spear forward.
A sharp whistling sound tore through the air.
In an instant, four Aust Empire soldiers were pierced through consecutively by the spear, strung together like candied hawthorns, instantly forming a skewer of bloody bodies.
To possess such terrifying arm strength, this Spear Unit Combat Commander was undoubtedly a Bloodline User.
However, he was not from any Bloodline family, nor did he possess any notable background.
He was a typical military lucky find—during his service, he had successfully activated his bloodline through a Bloodline Awakening Potion, becoming a First-Tier Bloodline User. The bloodline he awakened was 【Violent Bear】, and the ability he obtained was the relatively rare 【Berserk】.
In fact, to become a combat commander representing a unit type, one had to be a Bloodline User.
The only difference was whether they were First-Tier or Second-Tier Bloodline Users.
This Spear Unit Combat Commander, burly like a Violent Bear, glanced at the soldiers gathering around the Sword Unit Combat Commander and muttered something under his breath. But without any hesitation, he grabbed another long spear from the ground and began running toward the nearest surviving soldiers, roaring loudly at the same time: 「Get your heads straight, don’t be afraid of death. Everyone, find nearby comrades immediately, form up on the spot—three, five, seven formations—then move toward my position！」
The so-called three-five-seven formation was the most commonly used defensive formation of spearmen.
Three people formed a small circular formation back-to-back; five people used a formation of three crouching and two standing, resembling a chevaux-de-frise; seven people expanded upon the five-man formation with two additional soldiers standing slightly behind with spears raised high, forming a frontal, all-directional barricade-style defense.
These three formations covered nearly all combat scenarios, but their weakness was that once formation changes slowed, they could be completely broken through. Therefore, the latter two formations were typically used only in positional defense battles and were almost never employed in mobile combat.
The meaning behind the Spear Unit Combat Commander’s shout was already very clear—organize defensive positions locally as much as possible,
and wait for reinforcements from others.
At this moment on the battlefield, who was still moving, rapidly merging with the spearmen, and developing toward a mixed unit?
The Sword Unit, led by the Sword Unit Combat Commander.
As the Sword Unit successfully rescued dozens of spearmen, the size of this force rapidly expanded from several dozen toward over a hundred—and it continued to grow.
The main camp’s garrison force numbered three thousand, and including the wounded who failed to evacuate in time, totaled roughly four to five thousand.
Among them, the Spear Unit was the largest, numbering over a thousand.
The Sword Unit followed closely behind, with around eight hundred.
The remaining thousand-plus were from the Cavalry Unit, Archer Unit, Reconnaissance Unit, and others.
Each of the four sub-defense camps was garrisoned by approximately five hundred soldiers, with one main and one deputy commander—both Third-Tier Bloodline Users.
The commander of this camp, however, was a Fourth-Tier Bloodline User, and his aides were predominantly Third-Tier Bloodline Users.
But now, with the entire camp in such chaos, there was still no sign of the commander stepping forward to stabilize morale. Anyone with sense could already guess that the battle inside the camp was likely far more brutal than they had imagined.
However, at this moment, the severity of the situation clearly left no room for deep thought from the two combat commanders. Their only thought was to save as many soldiers as possible and quickly form a new joint force.
Only then would they have the right to choose whether to continue fighting or withdraw from the battlefield.
Thus, under the coordination and rescue efforts of the two combat commanders, their force rapidly expanded to nearly five hundred. Afterward, both sides quickly turned back and led their men toward the Sword Unit Camp, gathering the routed soldiers there. Soon after, the force underwent a second expansion, with numbers approaching one thousand.
But when they prepared to advance toward the very center of the camp—the command headquarters—they discovered that a large section of the outer wall had already been breached.
A unit of Aust Empire soldiers, each with a red scarf-like cloth tied around their necks, was entering through the broken gap in the wall under the leadership of a middle-aged man wielding a long spear.
Just by visual estimation, this force exceeded a thousand men, possibly even two thousand.
This alone was enough to make the two combat commanders feel despair. The Aust Empire soldiers radiated a cold indifference toward death, each one revealing the terrifying elite nature of the unit—something they had not felt from the Aust soldiers who had earlier breached the camp to spread chaos.
This led the two to realize—
The Aust Empire force before them was likely the true main combat force.
And what truly drove them into despair was not this newly arrived unit.
But the middle-aged man leading them.
Holding a long spear, he openly unleashed his terrifying presence.
Fourth-Tier Bloodline User!
In addition, several figures surrounding him also emanated the aura of Third-Tier Bloodline Users, and the pressure they gave off was barely inferior to that of the Fourth-Tier Bloodline User.
In the next moment, the Fourth-Tier Bloodline User moved.
He carried his long spear and walked step by step toward the two combat commanders.
「Looks like this is as far as it goes.」the Sword Unit Combat Commander gave a bitter smile.
「To be able to fight side by side with you at the final moment is my honor.」the Spear Unit Combat Commander said in a deep voice.
「Likewise.」
「This will be my final battle.」The Spear Unit Combat Commander took a deep breath and said solemnly, 「I would rather die than become a traitor to the nation.」
The Spear Unit Combat Commander’s skin rapidly flushed red, and large amounts of steam began to billow from his body.
His physique even expanded by another full circle!
【Berserk】.
「I am from the forces under Lord Yam Soderbell, Military Commander of White Mountain Territory and Bayor Territory, Vice Commander of the Shelf Mercenary Group, Hais. I am here under orders to carry out a rescue.」
「Ah？」
「Ah！