Chapter 428: Just Rolling Our Way Through The Countryside

(Elaria POV)

We had no space for mercy.

These lowlife, good for nothing scum deserved none for taking my precious Onii-sama away from me.

My people thought as much too.

Thus, we were as merciless as possible in this war.

The fortress they had built behind the Death Mountain Pass quickly fell to the combined artillery and tank assault.

Anyone that was there was shot, we took absolutely no prisoners.

None of the Dong soldiers had a chance to surrender before we shot them down. Even if they did, we wouldn't have accepted their surrender either.

The tank column and mobile infantry immediately advanced down the road, any stragglers we found were also shot and killed without mercy.

If there were any fortunate ones left when the Queen's army showed up to secure our supply lines, they will be the ones taken prisoner to be interrogated.

All of my senior sisters and I pushed forward with the advancing column, taking the shortest route towards their capital city while capturing their most important locations along the way.

"General, a group of soldiers are bunkered in the farmhouse up ahead. They're using the farmers there as human shields against us."

I reined in my horse and looked down at the captain reporting the news, "Why do they think that using heretics as shields would work? Take two Sherman Crocodile tanks and burn that building. That should send them running out. Once they do, shoot the soldiers."

"And the farmers?"

"If they are hostile, shoot them too."

"Yes General."

The officer scurried off to obey, relaying my orders to the soldiers under his command.

"Ara, ara? You could have just asked me to burn the entire place down, you know?" Manami chuckled beside me.

I grinned at her, "It's good for my people to learn and get used to such things. This would be our first official campaign after all."

I watched two tanks veer off from the main column with a group of soldiers following behind it, the small group heading for a farmhouse just off the road.

One of the Dong soldiers peeked out from the farmhouse window and shot an arrow that bounced off the tank's mantlet harmlessly.

There was a shout, presumably the Dong soldier warning my soldiers to stay away, but no one paid him any heed.

The two tanks stopped a distance away and levelled their turrets at the building.

Two gouts of flames blasted out from their barrels, setting the entire house alight.

Screams came out from within the house and several seconds later, a few Dong soldiers ran out from the front door, one of them still burning.

My men shot them all without a moment's hesitation,letting the farmers run out of their homes and away unmolested.

We pushed on from there, continuing our advance to our next target.

Lian Li rode her horse up to me, "We're taking a city next, right?"

I nodded, "It's one of their trading cities. If we take that before they can start moving supplies out, we can secure that for ourselves and push on without waiting for Guiying to secure this place."

"Hmm... We would need to take a few months for a siege, won't we?" Eris pointed out.

I laughed, "Not with me around! We'll need to secure this place especially though. A lot of good, flat ground around here that we can use."

"What would you need that type of ground for? Farming?"

I placed my finger on my lips, "Ehehe~ It's a surprise~ But it'll help us a lot in the coming days~"

Eris shrugged and asked no further, losing interest.

We travelled in silence for a few miles more before encountering a company of horsemen that walked straight into our column.

They seemed just as surprised to see us as we were of them, but since they were wearing uniforms that signify their status as soldiers, we opened fire on them.

The machine guns on top of the tanks made short work of them, mowing them down like weeds to a scythe.

One of them managed to somehow survive the hail of bullets and turned to flee before a golden lightning bolt struck him down.

"Gee~ Now you're just showing off, senior sister~" I whined.

Lian Li shrugged, "Can't expect me to do nothing now, can you?"

I pointed in the direction they had came from, "Those should be forward scouts, that means there should be a bigger force coming from behind them. We'll need to get ready for another battle."

Diao Chan looked a little doubtful, "You sure? They might just be a patrol of the city or something?"

I shook my head, "A city's patrol wouldn't wander this far away from it. What's more, they were carrying no supplies of their own, which means they weren't supposed to be staying away from what they are scouting for for a long period of time. That can mean two things..."

The Witch raised an eyebrow at me, "Which is?"

"They are a scout party for an advancing army, or they are scouts for a nearby military base. Either way, it means that there will be a battle afoot."

Kiyomi looked at me with a weird face, "Since when were you so familiar with the art of war?"

"Oh! You can thank Onii-sama for that! To think Onii-sama foresaw such a thing and took such time and effort to train me! All those board games were just a front for the military strategies I would come to learn! Onii-sama truly is Divine!"

"Papa best Papa!" Cai Hong exclaimed, the loli dragon riding in front of Manami.

Manami patted Cai Hong on the head, "Yes, yes. We know you have been studying as well, Cai Hong."

"Ehehe~ Cai Hong will be good girl for Papa! Cai Hong will 'conqwer' the world for Papa!"

Such a good girl my Onii-sama has raised!

I raised my hand, "All troops! Change heading to Northwest! We'll take out whatever that's there before we siege the city!"

A chorus of 'hurrahs' echoed throughout the mobile column and all vehicles turned to the direction I ordered.

We crested over a hill to find an assault group marching towards us, all of them immediately moving into battle formations.

"Hmm, probably two battalions," I mused, unhooking the radio microphone from my saddle. "We're going to have to wipe them out, the city must not know we are coming until everything is ready."

"Shall we participate too?" Lian Li suggested, her hands cackling with golden lightning.

I gestured, "If they don't have the anti-Technique barrier, be my guest."

Lian Li made a face, "Stupid Dongs and their barriers, it's making me feel useless. We'll just watch then."

I shrugged and pressed the button on the radio, "All units, line up on the hill crest. Fire at will."

Ah~~ The sounds of a few hundred tanks firing at the same time was absolutely glorious! If only Onii-sama can hear this!