Chapter 1 The Rhythm of the Battlefield

The rhythm of the battlefield did indeed slow down. The aerial combat didn't last too long. Perhaps realizing that the Dongping airships weren't too keen on higher altitudes and could still steadily shoot down enemies, the Beiliao airship squadron simply stayed on the same level as the Dongping airship squadron, relying on their numerical advantage to launch a wave of attacks. But now, with the Dongping airship squadron prepared, armed with appropriate weapons, and boasting superior performance, they weren't afraid of a numerical advantage at all. They launched a simple counterattack, and the weapons on the Dongping airships made their attacks especially effective against the Beiliao airships. The aerial battle ended in just over half an hour, with the remaining seventeen Beiliao airships limping back with meager fuel. The Dongping airship forces firmly held the initiative on the battlefield.

The situation on the ground was different. Although the three heavy infantry battalions steadily withstood the first wave of attacks and, together with the rear forces, inflicted heavy casualties on the Beiliao army, they quickly showed signs of fatigue. In the second hour of the battle, Xie Bo'an sent another 20,000 troops, advancing with a mixed force of infantry and cavalry. Although they suffered some losses due to their slow speed as they passed through the heavy ordnance battalion's blockade in the middle of the battlefield, they presented a different picture when they reached the Dongping front. The nimble Beiliao infantry, though lacking heavy armor, still inflicted considerable losses on the heavy infantry battalions with their flexible combat tactics. A portion of the enemy on the right even nearly broke through the outer shield wall of the heavy infantry square formation, penetrating the interior. Fortunately, Tan Weiran saw this situation and immediately ordered the cavalry to launch a short, sharp attack to relieve them. Xie Bo'an then threw another 20,000 troops to flank from the left and right wings, trying to trap the Dongping cavalry on the battlefield as well.

However, Ye Tao decisively ordered the five battalions of the second row to advance a short distance to receive the retreating cavalry. Although the battle line was slightly modified, it still proceeded according to Ye Tao's planned pace.

Xie Bo'an flexibly maneuvered the withdrawal and attack of his forces. He placed the Beiliao heavy ordnance battalion at the forefront, covering half of the Dongping heavy infantry battalion's square formation within their range. Although the accuracy of the ultra-long-range shots was appalling, it caused chaos within the heavy infantry square formation. After paying a considerable price, they barely managed to maintain the battle line. Xie Bo'an's trick failed, but it did manage to kill quite a few soldiers in the Dongping heavy infantry force, which was already not very numerous. The price he paid, however, made his heart ache. The range and accuracy of the Beiliao heavy ordnance battalion could not compare with that of the Dongping side. In a full half-hour of bombardment, the long-range projection power in Xie Bo'an's hands was completely wiped out. Although the cavalry could almost unhindered rush to the Dongping front to fight during this half-hour, Xie Bo'an knew very well that he was at an overall disadvantage in this situation of mutually exchanging pieces.

But Xie Bo'an's tactics finally got their chance. By the afternoon, the heavy infantry battalions that had been fighting non-stop were finally tired. The Ouyang family's heavy infantry battalion was the first to show signs of weakness. Not because the Ouyang family's heavy infantry battalion was weaker than the Tan and Zhuo families' troops in the center and right, but simply because, in the eyes of the Beiliao generals, the Ouyang family was more like a soft persimmon. They suffered more attacks and greater pressure. Although six hundred heavy infantrymen were urgently drawn from the center and right to the left to prevent the left from collapsing, everyone understood at this point that the three heavy infantry battalions could not hold out until night under these circumstances. Casualties in all three battalions exceeded 30%, and six hundred soldiers were the maximum number that could be squeezed out of the center and right. Wearing heavy armor certainly made the heavy infantry a strong type of soldier, but it also made them exceptionally vulnerable after their physical strength was exhausted.

"The five battalions of the second row advance, changing formation into a horizontal line. Remove the tower shields on the sides of the three battalions. All face the enemy head-on. The heavy infantry battalions slowly retreat. Tribal infantry battalions, hold the position." Ye Tao ordered.

To carry out retreat and rotation on the battlefield was an operation that required extremely high skill. And when Xie Bo'an saw that the Dongping airship force had strengthened its support for the three heavy infantry battalions and began to drop a large number of smoke bombs in the center of the battlefield, he realized Ye Tao's trick. But he had no other tricks to use and threw another 10,000 troops. In one morning, a full four 10,000-man teams had been crippled. From noon until now, another three 10,000-man teams... Although these units could be integrated and put into combat, after all, their spirit had been lost. They no longer had the murderous aura they had at the beginning of the war. With only 60% of his troops available, Xie Bo'an began to deliberate and hesitate, but he also understood that if he didn't seize the opportunity, defeat was inevitable. He was very good at using his troop advantage, and today's combat command could be counted as the most accurate and decisive in his decades of military service. But he did not expect that the Dongping army's combat power was much higher than he had anticipated. Even those tribal infantry and cavalry who had only been formed into armies recently, with their fervor and courage, made up for their lack of training. The casualties in his hands had accumulated to 49,000, a number that would make all generals dizzy and at a loss, but he withstood the pressure and continued to invest troops in the attack. But how many casualties did the Dongping army have? Xie Bo'an estimated that they might not even have half of his own. And his estimate was largely accurate.

The 10,000 men, which might not have been a problem before, were now giving Ye Tao a headache. The rotation of troops, especially the rotation of troops of different natures, even though the Dongping army from top to bottom was not unaware of the risks, and the officers were working hard to coordinate, there were still loopholes. A negligible-sized Beiliao cavalry actually took advantage of the situation and drilled into the tower shield formation, charging and killing. Fortunately, the soldiers fought to the death to resist them, and wiped them out in their own iron-bucket formation. But Tan Weiran, who was coordinating and commanding on the spot, was injured in the chaos. Without a deputy commander all of a sudden, the command pressure on Ye Tao suddenly increased.

The 10,000 men that Xie Bo'an invested at this crucial moment caused the Dongping army's front line to be full of alarms everywhere, but Ye Tao finally withstood the pressure, withdrew the heavy infantry battalions, and replaced them with tribal infantry. Without the heavy infantry battalions, which were like sea-stabilizing needles, the exhausted front immediately showed a tendency to collapse. The tribal infantry were not bad in combat, but it was really beyond their ability to bear the defense, and their powerful combat power could not be brought into play.

Seeing that the Dongping army had unexpectedly showed a situation of overall loosening, Xie Bo'an immediately pressed on another 10,000 men. Ye Tao pondered for a moment, and without waiting for the other party's troops to pass through the battlefield, Ye Tao ordered: "Cavalry force, full army attack."

"Yes!" Compared to the previous calm and orderly deployment, this order, which obviously lacked any technical content, could make the soldiers under his command more excited. When the red order flag for a full army attack was hung on the command tower, and the horns sounded wailing, one by one, the generals had not yet come down from the command tower and began to shout loudly at the bottom, "Attack!" They had been recuperating for almost a day, and they had a full lunch two hours ago. On this fiery battlefield, although they all understood that this was also a mission requirement, this kind of leisure was really a bit out of tune. The accumulated strong fighting spirit was fully ignited at this moment.

In just a few breaths, the cavalry force moved. One cavalry force after another passed through the channels left for them in the middle of the battle formation, and directly rushed onto the battlefield with a roar, colliding with the Beiliao army's reinforcements who had just been thrown into the battle.

"Add two cavalry battalions and one infantry battalion to the left and right wings respectively, and steadily expand. Then attack towards the center. The whole army moves out. Guards battalion, put on armor, prepare to attack."

"The heavy ordnance battalion concentrates its firepower and carries out segmented coverage. Pay attention to coordination with the advancing troops."

"Airship force, free attack."

Ye Tao waved his hand, and the attendants immediately helped him put on his armor. From the moment Ye Tao issued the order for a full army attack, the form of the battlefield began to undergo tremendous changes.

Ye Tao's tactics were still successful. After almost a whole day of cohesive fighting, the Beiliao army suffered heavy losses, especially their morale fell to a considerable degree. Their advantage in troop strength had vanished, and the two sides were now roughly evenly matched in troop strength. But when Ye Tao suddenly invested a total of 40,000 cavalry who were well-rested and had a high fighting spirit, the battle situation would naturally undergo tremendous changes. An orderly defensive operation would turn into chaos, and the two sides would fight together to determine the final victory or defeat. And in such a battlefield, the command would naturally be different. The entire army had already been put into combat, and it made no sense to stay in the command tower to deploy troops. At this time, a commander standing on the battlefield could exert the greatest effect and become the source of courage for all the soldiers. Originally, this should have been Tan Weiran's job, but now that Prince Ye was injured, Ye Tao had a duty to do so.

"The heavy ordnance battalion advances slowly. The troops that have been withdrawn protect the heavy ordnance battalion." Ye Tao finally instructed before straddling his warhorse. The heavy ordnance battalion was about to play its ultimate move. Allowing the heavy ordnance battalion to attack continuously while advancing was not something that just any unit could do. Without a pre-set position, they had to continuously level the ground in front of them, calibrate the coordinates, and fire. Those munitions also had to constantly move with the gun positions. Although the heavy ordnance battalion's march was regarded as the most difficult secret skill in the Blood Kirin Army's system from the very beginning of the establishment of this type of soldier, and was constantly trained. This set of training methods had gradually spread in Dongping. Although it had never been used on the battlefield, it had become the ultimate training routine because of the extremely high requirements for each position, each member, and each link. If used well, it would naturally allow the firepower of the heavy ordnance battalion to advance continuously with the battle formation, becoming the decisive force in determining the outcome of the battlefield, but if used poorly, it would cause the entire heavy ordnance battalion to fall into chaos and be unable to exert any effect... But Ye Tao was very firmly convinced that the troops under his command would never let him down.

"Commander Ye is here!" As the guards battalion, clad in glittering silver armor, passed through the middle of the battlefield, the soldiers on both sides boiled over. The news that Ye Tao was on the battlefield spread almost immediately throughout the army. Ye Tao was not an arrogant general, nor was he a battle general who would behead generals and seize flags. He had only gone into battle a few times occasionally, and undoubtedly it was under unavoidable circumstances. Everyone knew this, and Ye Tao had never hidden these things as bad deeds. Sometimes he even chatted with his generals with a smile about how foolproof it was when he wore armor before he dared to go into battle. But at this moment, Ye Tao, as the commander-in-chief, had a strange power. This was a legendary figure who had miraculously risen from an ordinary person to the extremely high status he was now, and following him in battle, the legend seemed to accompany everyone... And this, perhaps, was the source of courage and strength.