Chapter 1157: The Battle of Taquila (III)
When the two stone pillars crossed the median and were five miles from the encampment, the First Army launched the Detection Balloons and stopped firing.
The Magic Slayer also noticed the change but he could not figure out the intention behind this movement. He knew that the balloons must be used for scouting purposes, but he did not understand how that was supposed to work when it was pitch dark on the battlefield.
When the fiery rain finally stopped, the Magic Slayer instructed his army to accelerate.
After the stone pillars were within four kilometers of the encampment, the Artillery Battalion loaded the cannons and prepared the flare projectiles.
After the first night raid, Roland had instructed the workers in Neverwinter to produce some rudimentary illumination devices. These illumination devices were essentially the same as mortars, except that there was a miniscule parachute attached to the tail of the shell and the gunpowder at the front end was replaced with a mixture of powdered magnesium and aluminium that could burn for a long time. Roland had intended to use the same projectile used to eject mortars to project flares. However, during the test, he had noticed that small-caliber bullets were neither bright enough nor had a great lasting power. Therefore, he had decided to use large-caliber shells instead. Although those shells were still not as bright as sunlight, they were sufficient enough to illuminate the battlefield.
It was actually the First Army's first time using flares in a real battle, which was obviously another suggestion from the General Staff.
When the demons were only three kilometers away from the encampment, Iron Axe ordered the soldiers to fire.
"Yes!" Van'er hung up the phone and shouted, "Shoot flares at the largest firing angle. Ready, go!"
A few explosions filled the air, and soon dazzling orange light dispelled the darkness that had weighed heavily upon the battlefield.
Then more flares rose into the air, ignited, and plunged downward.
Like numerous tiny suns, these flares spilled light across the area within a radius of three kilometers and outshone the moon and stars strewn across the sky.
Now, the soldiers saw the giant stone pillars, the Spider Demons, and the Mad Demons that were once hidden in the darkness!
Even though the flares only illuminated a small area, it was enough for the soldiers to find their targets.
Shells streaked toward the demons behind the stone pillars. It was like the shells knew where they were going! For a split second, the demons were rooted to the ground in shock.
Within the blink of an eye, the demons' encampment erupted in deafening explosions.
...
Ursrook gazed at the "light balls" drifting down from the sky. His expression finally changed.
Now he understood why the humans launched the balloons.
They were no longer flustered and defenseless like they had been six months ago during that night raid as they had learned how to cope with a night battle. The fact that they waited for this moment to implement their new tactic told Ursrook that human beings were no longer the low lives that they used to treat with contempt.
Ursrook, for the first time, realized that human beings can rival them.
He must inform the king of this new development!
This was the decision he made at that moment.
At the same time, Ursrook further confirmed his belief that he must exterminate this army at once and leave it no chance to disrupt their development plan.
He rested his eyes back on the battlefield. Through the fiery rain, he saw a huge gap between his army and the stone pillars that were supposed to be within their shooting range. The junior demons, which were supposed to close in from either side of the encampment, had fallen far behind and failed to provide quick assistance to those pillar-shaped symbiosis.
Apparently, the junior demons were thwarted by the fiery rain. Instead of shielding them from shells, the lit blind zones had become a narrow death zone for the demons.
Was he supposed to destroy those light balls? No... human beings could produce as many of these light balls as they wanted. Plus, he was being watched.
Ursrook accelerated abruptly and tore toward the human encampment!
He dodged a series of fire bolts darting toward him, skidded to a halt in front of a balloon suspending in midair, and grabbed the lookout in the basket by the neck before the latter could escape.
Ursrook's face split into a nasty, contorted smile as he stared down at the horror-struck man. Then he ripped the man apart.
He dropped the body and uttered a sharp, piercing wail.
That was the order to launch the general attack.
Encouraged by Ursrook's power, the junior demons below growled as they came out of hiding and swarmed toward the human encampment.
The entire battlefield was stirred!
...
The First Army had totally controlled the pace of the battle.
The flares in the air lit the area within a radius of three kilometers. As the demons emerged from behind the blind zones, both the mortars and heavy machine guns produced earth-shattering roars.
Since both parties understood that this was the final settlement between the two races, the battle became the fiercest and bitterest they had ever experienced. The Fertile Plains was thus turned into a sort of butcher house as the two powers clashed.
The Mad Demons continuously sent out spears until their arms gave away. Many of them crawled across the battlefield and left a long trail of blue blood as they were indifferent about their broken legs and penetrated torsos.
The same applied to the First Army.
Bullets rained down. Wounded soldiers were soon replaced by new ones. It appeared that nobody cared about the pelting stone needles from the Spider Demons anymore. The only time they ceased to fight was when they reloaded their guns.
This ferocious battle lasted from midnight to dawn.
When the first faint hint of sunlight was visible in the east, dozens of Devilbeasts joined the battle.
This was evidently the demons' last struggle.
The machine gun squads raised their guns and collaborated with the anti-aircraft squads to defend against the demons.
The Magic Slayer rushed into the encampment and attempted to stop the soldiers from firing, but was repulsed by a rain of shells.
It appeared that human beings were now very close to their victory.
By noon, the roars of the guns had stopped.
Agatha and Iron Axe stepped out of the underground headquarters and strolled to the frontier.
The air was impregnated with the pungent smell of gunpowder, but Agatha, for some reason, liked it.
The demons' bodies littered the ravaged meadow that had been, at one point, green and thick.
Their blood trickled down to the ground and soaked the earth. A sheen of ghostly blue light glazed off the bushes and grass the demons had once trodden on.
The Giant Skeletons in Taquila were still standing erect in the distance, but Agatha knew after this battle, the demons could no longer impede the progress of human beings. Men would soon recapture the Holy City.
"We won!" Somebody broke the silence. Agatha did not know whether it was a soldier, a witch, or one of the Taquila survivors. However, this did not matter anymore, because, in the next moment, the encampment erupted into a loud wave of cheers.
This was a victory that belonged to the entire human race!