Dawn of the Empire

Chapter 26: The Battle

The central pack of wolves collapsed so quickly that the war wolves tasked with flanking the two wings had only just arrived. They bypassed the two small squadrons at the very front and charged directly toward the flanks of the 8th Armored Regiment, which had only recently retreated to the rear. But when they were still a dozen or so paces away from the Yi soldiers, several wolves from each of the two packs suddenly rolled over and collapsed to the ground. All Yi soldiers had extensive experience dealing with wolves. Upon learning that the enemy had over a hundred giant wolves, officers such as Yang Gudai and Tong Zhongjian had set up dozens of wolf traps on both flanks and at the rear of the formation based on the wolves’ habits. These beasts, preoccupied with running to encircle the enemy, failed to notice the traps buried in the snow and, sure enough, fell into them. Several battle wolves—some with their front paws caught in the snares, others with their hind legs bound—rolled and struggled frantically in their panic, even tripping up several of their companions who were unable to dodge in time. The wolf pack’s charge came to an abrupt halt. The soldiers of the 8th Armored Unit stood back-to-back and, under the command of Tong Zhongjian and Wukeshan, fired directly at the two groups of wolves on the left and right. Since the distance was now very close, even the auxiliary troops joined the fray with their soft-bow bone arrows. Wukeshan, truly deserving of his reputation as the top archer in Anxi Garrison, fired five arrows in rapid succession; the arrows formed a straight line in the air, all five hitting their targets. The other fourteen combat soldiers each fired three heavy arrows. The ten auxiliary soldiers, having not participated in the earlier catapult attacks, had not exhausted their arm strength; combined with the light draw weight of their soft bows, each managed to fire nearly ten arrows. The Yi people’s precise archery mowed down the wolf pack attempting to flank them as neatly as reaping wheat. In this volley, the threats on both flanks were completely eliminated; only a few battle wolves that had not been struck in vital areas lay whimpering on the snow. Tong Zhongjian saw a massive wolf, several bone arrows embedded in its body, dragging its unconscious hindquarters as it crawled forward with a mournful howl. With a wave of his right hand, the auxiliary soldiers discarded their soft bows, drew their long axes, and charged forward to slay all the war wolves that were still immobilized by the nooses around their legs or had been wounded but not yet killed. Due to the vast disparity in speed, the orcs’ attack became severely disjointed. If they had truly been facing the Sheng Yi—who possessed few iron weapons—such a mistake would not have been serious. But now the situation was vastly different. By the time Yegu led the remaining twenty-nine soldiers to the front of the Sheng Yi formation, the war wolves on all three flanks had already been completely neutralized. Of the orcs still able to keep up with the jackal-men, half had already been wounded by sharp-tipped light arrows. One of the goblins had been struck by three arrows; relying on a momentary burst of ferocity, he had managed to stay with the group, but now he could hold on no longer and collapsed to the ground without a sound. The jackal-man had also sustained a minor injury—a light arrow had severed half of his left ear. Though the wound was trivial, Yegu was thoroughly enraged by this mark of shame that was destined to follow him forever. Paying no heed to the fact that the enemy outnumbered him three to one, he charged forward, howling wildly and brandishing his flail. The jackal-man was already in a bloodthirsty frenzy, but the beastmen soldiers behind him were torn between fear and confusion. The savage goblins bellowed wildly as they charged forward, while the pig-headed men and minotaurs hesitated, trailing behind. Yang Gudai let out a furious roar and led the two formations at the front in a charge. With his overwhelming numerical superiority, victory was within reach. Yegu swung the iron flail in his hand down hard at a barbarian soldier. The soldier raised his axe horizontally to block the flail’s long shaft, but the iron hammer at the end bypassed the axe’s guard and struck the barbarian directly on the head, causing his brains to splatter. After felling one enemy soldier, he swept the flail to his right,this time the iron chain of the mace entangled a Yiren’s weapon. Yegu yanked hard, pulling the Yiren directly in front of him. The jackal-man pressed his left hand down on his panicked opponent’s shoulder, opened his bloodthirsty maw, and snapped his neck. In an instant, warm blood filled the jackal-man’s mouth. To the werewolf’s left, Yang Gudai blocked a blow from a spiked club with his large shield. He flicked his shield-bearing left arm forcefully to the side, deflecting the Gobur’s spiked club and leaving him wide open. Yang Gudai raised his axe in his right hand and swung it horizontally,and the Goblin’s hideous head, with its long, jagged fangs, was instantly sent flying through the air, splattering Yang Gudai with filthy blood. After dispatching their immediate enemies, the two commanders exchanged a glance. Following a brief pause, they charged at each other with all their might. The jackal-man roared wildly as he swung his mace; the hammerhead slammed into Yang Gudai’s shield, held at an angle. The immense force and momentum actually caused Yang Gudai to falter for a moment. Yegu extended his left claw, gripped the edge of the shield, and yanked hard. He had intended to pin the shield down, but the Yi commander immediately let go. The long shield was flung aside by the jackal-man, and due to the excessive force, his left hand was dragged behind him by the shield. Yang Gudai, equally enraged by the scent of blood, delivered a direct headbutt to the jackal-man’s nose, leaving both upright beasts dazed and disoriented. A short distance behind them, a Yi soldier raised his axe high with both hands, took a step forward, and swung it down at Yegu’s head. The jackal-man, whose nose was bleeding profusely from Yang Gudai’s blow, was forced to raise his metal-shod mace to block the blow; the axe blade struck the metal-wrapped long handle, sending a shower of sparks flying. Just as the Yi soldier was about to strike again, a short arrow with a wooden feather flew in from a distance, piercing directly into the Yi soldier’s eye socket and sending him tumbling backward. “Run!” Fifty paces away from the fray, the obese feline beastman Guli, clutching a single-man crossbow he’d just fired, shouted at Yegu as he reloaded. The cat-beastman wasn’t originally supposed to participate in the battle, but he hoped to capture a few prisoners for interrogation after the war. Therefore, after the jackal-werewolves charged, he followed from a distance. In his mind, the jackal-werewolves would certainly show no mercy; if he waited until the enemy was nearly wiped out before joining the fray, he might have a chance to rescue one or two survivors from the wolves’ jaws. But when he emerged from the mist of snow kicked up by the running and fierce fighting, even with little combat experience, the cat-beastman immediately realized that their side had, in effect, already been defeated. On the battlefield not far ahead, battle-worn wolves lay strewn haphazardly across the ground—there appeared to be well over thirty of them—and on both flanks lay a vast cluster of corpses, making it impossible to tell exactly how many wolves had been killed. The goblins beside Big Dumb Dog had already been wiped out by the numerically superior humans. The cowardly pig-headed men and goat-horned men hesitated to advance, as if keeping their distance from the enemy would somehow make them feel safer. The jackal-man Yegu was being surrounded and attacked by several humans; he appeared to have sustained some kind of injury. In a moment of desperation, the cat-beastman fired an arrow from his crossbow, killing a human and temporarily relieving the jackal-man from the siege. Defeat was inevitable, and the cargo carried by the caravan behind them would naturally become the humans’ spoils of war. Guli dared not imagine what would happen if he fled alone, so he resolved to at least rescue the jackal-man to share the blame with him. After all, the jackal-man was the caravan’s captain of the guard; the primary responsibility for the defeat should not rest on his own shoulders. Yegu heard the cat-beastman’s cry. He looked around and realized he was no longer the caravan’s captain of the guard—just moments ago, the humans had easily slaughtered every guard who dared to resist, thanks to their numerical superiority. A few demoralized, trembling pig-headed men and horned-beast hybrids were even kneeling on the ground, begging for mercy. He had lost all his men. The jackal-man finally felt fear. He swung his flail wildly to fend off several approaching human soldiers, let out a roar, and turned to flee. The cat-beastman fired another crossbow bolt; this time, it pierced the arm of a Yi soldier, and the axe that had nearly struck the jackal-man in the back fell to the ground. But there were simply too many humans. A Yiren strongman raised a wooden spear—still bearing the carcass of a war wolf—horizontally at waist level and, roaring with fury, swept it across the jackal-man’s legs. With a crisp snap, the jackal-man’s shinbone shattered along with the wooden spear. Yegu howled in agony, clutching his leg as he rolled across the ground seven or eight times. Several Yi warriors gave chase, ready to hack him to pieces, but Yang Gudai—who had just begun to recover from his dizziness—shouted, “Take him alive!” The soldiers flipped their axes around and used the backs of the blades to smash all of the jackal-werewolf’s limbs. Seeing that the jackal-man had failed to break through the encirclement, the cat-beast had no choice but to turn and flee. As he ran, he cursed under his breath: “Stupid dog! Idiot dog! Moron dog! Not only did you lose the battle, but you can’t even run away. You’re going to get me killed!” Guli had long served as the steward of a merchant caravan under a member of the Oak Empire’s royal family. Having eaten well and slept soundly day in and day out, he had become what he was today—completely losing the agility a cat-beastman should possess. He twisted his obese body and had barely run a few steps when he felt a sharp pain in his leg. Looking down, he saw a sharp-tipped light arrow lodged in the crook of his knee. From sixty paces away, Wukeshan had struck the fat cat’s calf with a single arrow. Guli clutched his wounded leg and let out a agonized scream. As he watched several humans grinning savagely and slowly approaching him with ropes in hand, his heart filled with despair.