Chapter 240: Fierce Battle in the Wilderness!

"Everyone, stay alert! Lord Pa Ke and his men will likely charge down the mountain soon. Prepare to retreat to the edge of the woods and avoid being sandwiched between Pat's unit and the light cavalry!"

Gervas had stationed the guards at this Shankou for a reason.

Besides taunting Lord Pa Ke, it was to guard against that light cavalry.

Otherwise, once they climbed the slope, there would be only one path; if blocked on the mountain road and attacked from both sides, they would have no way to cry out in despair!

And at the foot of the mountain, where Lord Pa Ke could gain no advantage from above, he would surely choose to launch an attack, allowing Gervas to retreat at top speed to the position he had planned.

Indeed, Gervas did not have to wait long.

Because Lord Pa Ke, the Viscount above, had finally accepted reality.

Without sufficient ranged attacks to suppress Gervas, even if Gervas reached the mountain road, he still could not gain an advantage.

Instead, he was driven to fury by those damn strange longbowmen.

In that case, it was better to attack proactively, tie down Gervas's forces, and create an opportunity for Captain Adani to launch a flank surprise attack!

"Kieran, Bell, no more waiting! Lead the men down and charge! I will crush Gervas!"

Woo-woo-woo!

The horn sounded!

"Kill!"

In an instant, shouts of battle erupted from the peak of Iron Ore Mountain.

"Retreat!"

Seeing this, Gervas naturally initiated the retreat according to plan.

"Damn it!" Seeing Gervas turn and run without hesitation, Viscount Pa Ke was so angry his teeth ached.

However, thinking the enemy surely could not run far, he felt slightly calmer.

On Gervas's side, after running six hundred meters to the position, they stopped relying on the small grove of trees.

"All troops, form ranks and prepare to meet the enemy!"

Subsequently, the five hundred Storm Legion troops began to reform their ranks.

The spear phalanx was in the center, the longsword wielders on both flanks, and the crossbowmen at the rear providing ranged attacks.

"Damn it, why have you stopped running? Do you think relying on the woods will let you defeat me?" Lord Pa Ke, leading his army in pursuit, taunted and questioned Gervas.

Gervas, however, smiled and said, "Viscount Pa Ke, do not be as nagging as a woman. If you want to fight, come on! I, Gervas, am waiting for you here!"

"Am I the one nagging? You damn coward! I have already seized your Iron Ore Mountain, yet you dare not attack!" Lord Pa Ke was so angry he nearly jumped up.

"But now you will die just the same! Gervas, just wait! I will twist your head off and kick it like a ball!"

What a guy! Gervas exclaimed, "What a guy!"

"Pa Ke, several people have said the same words to me before, but now their graves are already overgrown with grass!"

Although he did not know why Gervas emphasized the grass growing on graves, Lord Pa Ke felt Gervas's arrogance.

So he delayed no longer.

"Charge up and kill all those Storm Domain men!"

"Kill!"

Kieran and Bell, the two vassals, went into battle again, this time leading a thousand-man unit.

Due to the disparity in numbers, as the enemy charged, Gervas's formation appeared somewhat fragile.

Fortunately, the position he had chosen was excellent.

On the left was a hill, so there was no fear of the enemy flanking from the left.

On the right was a small grove of trees; although there was also a gap over two hundred meters to the rear that could be used for a detour.

But Gervas still had a squad of over fifty longsword guards who had not yet entered the battle.

If the enemy truly tried to circle behind, these fifty longsword guards would move to intercept.

Thus, Lord Pa Ke's main army did not bother with such a thankless task.

Of course, more importantly, Lord Pa Ke had obviously deliberately left that gap.

At this moment, both sides tacitly agreed to focus only on the front battlefield.

Amidst the shouts of battle, Lord Pa Ke's thousand-man army finally charged to close range.

Bang-bang-bang!

The soldiers of both sides crashed violently into each other.

In an instant, screams and wails filled the air without ceasing.

And Lord Pa Ke's army was very smart; they chose to charge only the longsword guards on both flanks, while the spear phalanx in the center was merely assigned a few men to pin them down.

Yet even so, because Gervas's subordinate guards were all fully armed elites, Lord Pa Ke's army, despite having double the numbers, failed to gain any advantage whatsoever.

"This damn guy, how are his subordinates so formidable!"

Lord Pa Ke felt a pang of envy in his heart.

After all, the combat power displayed by Gervas's subordinates was absolutely not something achievable merely by equipping leather armor.

It required long-term training and cultivation to be possible.

He also did not know where Gervas had obtained so many brave subordinates.

If they could be given to him, then the prestige of the Pa Ke family in this border region could rise another level.

Of course, thinking that he would soon destroy Gervas, Lord Pa Ke's slight jealousy extinguished itself.

"Everyone, charge up! Today we must annihilate all the Storm Domain men!"

"Yes, my lord!"

Following the order, the final five hundred subordinates beside Lord Pa Ke were deployed to the battlefield.

With the number of combatants reaching fifteen hundred, Lord Pa Ke's army was already three times the size of the Storm Guards.

However, fortunately, Lord Pa Ke's guards still held firm.

After all, they had meat at every meal, trained at high intensity daily, and even had a daily supply of electric silver fish.

Besides its texture, the electric silver fish's nourishing properties were no different from low-grade monster meat.

Ask yourself, which ordinary soldier's family can eat monster meat every day?

I'm afraid even the Guardian Knights could not receive such treatment.

If it were not that the vast majority of Lord Pa Ke's soldiers were still new recruits on their first battlefield, they could have directly turned the tables and crushed Lord Pa Ke's army.

After all, a mere threefold numerical advantage, with a thousand of them being serf soldiers, meant their strength was truly not impressive.

Of course, Lord Pa Ke was quite satisfied for now; he could use Lord Pa Ke's soldiers to baptize his own new recruits.

After this battle, his five hundred guards would become true elites.

Time passed second by second, and both sides fell into a stalemate.

However, amidst the stalemate, the numbers of Lord Pa Ke's army were quietly dwindling.

Lord Pa Ke's subordinates fought with increasing courage.

Judging by the situation, if given enough time, perhaps in a few hours, Lord Pa Ke's army would be the ones defeated.

Lord Pa Ke also realized the situation; his expression was far from pleasant.

Fortunately, at this moment, he suddenly spotted a colorful flag appearing within the dense forest more than a li away.

"Prepare to strike!"

This was the secret signal between him and Adani.

At this moment, Adani was ready to begin his surprise attack, requiring his side to act as a distraction.

"Pass the order: regardless of casualties, attack with full force! Anyone who dares retreat shall be executed on the spot; their families will become slaves!"

"Yes, my lord Viscount!"

Just like that, the roar of battle erupted fiercely once again on the front battlefield.

Kieran and Bell, the two vassals who knew the specific situation, also urged them on vigorously: "Put in your best effort! Anyone who dares to shrink back shall be put to death without mercy!"

Whether serfs or armored guards, no one dared to slack off at this moment; they pressed forward against the Storm Legion.

Even the spearmen in Lord Pa Ke's camp finally had 'business' come to them, beginning to record consecutive victories.

Just as the Storm Legion soldiers were overjoyed, a cavalry unit of fifty men suddenly appeared from the distant forest.