Chapter 2452: First Battle

The border area between Shayan and Peru is the central battlefield; it is this very battlefield that separates the two nations.

Upon arriving at the central battlefield, Su Xiao had Baha scout from above to search for small to medium-sized enemy forces. Regardless of anything else, the first battle had to be a victory, and he could not afford to pick soft targets.

As they marched into the central battlefield, Baha located an enemy force of about 30,000 troops that had just engaged with their own side.

Su Xiao currently had only 20,000 soldiers, a mix of infantry and light shield-bearers. He intended to develop only the light shield-bearers because, without the support of Uno and Carola, developing other troop types was difficult, especially beast cavalry—that was not a problem that could be solved simply by throwing gold coins at it.

"My lord, enemy forces have been spotted ahead. I suggest we detour from this direction."

Aus spread a map on the table and drew a semicircle on it with his finger.

"Detour? And then head straight for Segona City?"

"This..."

Aus was speechless for a moment. Of course, he knew about the plan to capture Segona City in seven days, but Aus chose to ignore it. His thinking was simple: arrive at the front line alive, then return to the Sand Capital alive.

"Prepare for battle. We engage from the front."

"Yes."

Aus dared not say more and hurried off to mobilize the soldiers.

Hum—

A long, resonant horn sounded. Hearing it, the marching soldiers tensed their bodies and quickly scattered to form a charge formation.

Just as the horn stopped, a muffled thud came from the distance. A large ball of fire flew over, trailing a tail of flame.

This fireball was some kind of incendiary device. After flying in a parabolic arc through the air, it split into hundreds of smaller fireballs the size of washbasins.

Boom, boom, boom...

Each fireball exploded upon impact, orange flames surging. Once these flames touched the air, they caused an extremely intense combustion phenomenon, and the splashing liquid fire possessed strong adhesive properties.

Dirt flew, liquid fire splashed, and before they even saw the enemy, dozens of their own soldiers were blown to death.

"Ah!"

A soldier covered in flames ran wildly, screaming, until a two-handed heavy sword swung down and severed his head.

A flame shot into the sky and burst, forming the shape of a broken-horned sheep's head.

Seeing this sheep's head, Deputy Commander Aus's pupils constricted. They had hit the jackpot this time.

Aus disregarded his deputy commander image, hurried to the metal war chariot, and pushed open the door with a bang, only to find Caesar inside.

A whistling sound came from the front again. The soldiers looked up to see a dozen large fireballs flying toward them. They recognized this—it was the Peruvian dwarf's liquid flame thrower. Some of them had even used it themselves, but lacking the formula for 'black oil,' they had to abandon the heavy throwers once the oil ran out.

Clang.

With a crisp sound of slashing, three cyan-blue blade beams slashed diagonally into the high sky. A moment later, the roar of explosions continued overhead.

The flames burst in mid-air, falling like a rain of fire onto the sand ahead, igniting a large area of the already charred ground.

At some point, Su Xiao had already stood at the very front of the formation, watching the large expanse of fire a dozen meters away.

"Follow me and charge."

"..."

The soldiers who saw Su Xiao were dumbfounded. They had never seen a Grand Commander stand at the very front after a battle began.

"Charge!"

Roars erupted, and all the soldiers charged forward. They didn't even know why they had such courage; this was the benefit of high morale.

A wailing sound came from the sky again. The Peruvian army was no soft target; their years of war with Shayan had made the soldiers extremely battle-hardened, and their various war weapons were improved generation by generation.

As for war weapons, Su Xiao had none. It wasn't that he didn't want them, but it was impossible to obtain them. However, as long as they won this current war, everything would improve.

Their soldiers roared as they charged. At the same time, one kilometer away, the Peruvian dwarves had already lined up. The front row of dwarf soldiers held large shields, and the second row held long spears. Shield after shield formed a wall, and spear after spear poked out from the gaps, pointing forward.

Boom, boom, boom...

The rhythmic footsteps made the ground tremble. Under the dwarf soldiers' helmets were pairs of eyes that viewed life and death with indifference, ready to fight at the slightest provocation.

Behind the dwarf army, on a wooden war chariot, a dwarf wearing fine-forged armor and a bull-horned helmet stared ahead. His wine-red beard was braided into several plaits. Although he was only 1.45 meters tall, he possessed the aura of someone 5.41 meters tall.

"What are these?"

The dwarf officer frowned, a hint of disbelief in his eyes.

"Lord Red Beard, this is a ragtag army, likely a suicide squad sent by Nieposuo to block us."

The adjutant beside him looked relaxed. Even if two more ten thousand of such ragtag troops came, they couldn't stop them.

"Look over there."

The dwarf called Red Beard pointed into the distance. His adjutant looked in that direction, blinked, and suspected he had seen wrong.

"That is... Shayan's Grand Commander?"

The adjutant's voice cracked. It was no wonder he was like this; the scene before him was truly unbelievable. A Grand Commander leading 20,000 ragtag troops to appear here—there was no mistake, that black velvet cloak was the symbol of a Grand Commander.

Red Beard's frown deepened. He had led troops on the central battlefield for many years, and this 'ragtag army' he encountered was too strange. They had no formation, yet the soldiers' charging speed was extremely fast.

The dwarf troops marched steadily, the connected shield wall blocking their front, making them look like a torrent of steel.

Looking at their own side, they charged in a chaotic mass. Forget about formations; some soldiers were running so fast their boots were about to fall off.

Just as the two sides were about to collide, the dwarf soldiers roared in unison.

"Ha!"

The dwarves in front thrust their spears forward at extremely tricky angles, making it impossible for the charging soldiers to dodge.

Puchi, puchi, puchi...

Sharp weapons entered flesh, and the lower edges of the shields slammed into the ground with a bang—this was the command to retract the spears.

As spear after spear, nearly three meters long, was pulled back, a large swath of their soldiers fell instantly.

With a bang, one of their squad leaders kicked a shield. Behind the shield, the dwarf soldier holding it widened his eyes as a massive force transmitted from his hands, causing his body to uncontrollably lean backward.

A dense sound of kicking followed. The shield wall that had been a solid piece instantly became crooked. The dwarf soldiers holding the shields were all stunned. Except when encountering cavalry, when had they ever been so embarrassed?

Boom!

A second shield wall was erected, but it was too late. Their soldiers stepped on the already tilted shields of the first row and leaped directly into the dwarf formation.

The sound of slashing merged into one. In a very short time, the dwarf soldiers screamed and fell in large numbers. In the chaotic crowd, a centurion slashed down several dwarves. The armor that had been difficult to cut before now felt easy to slice through.

There was obvious confusion in the centurion's eyes. He couldn't figure out when the Peruvian dwarves had become so weak. He could fight five—no, he could fight ten. ===== CHAPTER 2453 =====