rpbooks Chapter 96, Battle 1
Chapter 96, Battle 1
White Tiger Fortress.
This military fortress, which had been dormant for nearly four years, was awakened today by a group of uninvited guests.
"Everyone, get off the bus!"
Dong Sheng's voice boomed across the empty wilderness.
He stood on the footboard of the lead vehicle, raised his right arm high, and then swung it forward sharply.
Three thousand men filed out of military trucks, their movements not as swift as those of veteran soldiers.
Overall, however, things were relatively orderly.
After all, this was their first real battle, so it was inevitable that they would be nervous.
"Establish a position! Quickly! Quickly! Quickly!" Dong Sheng's voice grew more urgent with each shout.
The first thousand veterans to react were the ones who realized what was happening.
They didn't make any unnecessary movements.
The veterans quickly found their positions and began building defensive positions.
The new recruits were a little slow, but with the encouragement and guidance of the veterans, they quickly entered the position.
"Veterans in front! New recruits behind! Speed-type martial artists weave through the gaps!"
Dong Sheng's instructions were clear and decisive, each word like a nail driven into everyone's ears.
A position of three thousand men was formed within ten minutes. They were responsible for covering the retreat.
The entire formation resembled a sophisticated war machine, with every part fitting together perfectly.
Ye Feng stood on a high ground behind the position, arms crossed, looking down at everything.
He showed no intention of making a move.
At least not now. The primary purpose of bringing the new army out this time is to train them.
The whetstone is a mythical beast from the White Tiger Fortress.
If he takes action, those monsters will be wiped out in ten minutes at most. What's the point of training soldiers then?
"Slaughter Lord, activate." Ye Feng silently chanted in his mind.
[Ding! The Slaughter Lord event has begun!]
[Shared Talent This Time: Regeneration (Orange)!]
[Regeneration (Orange): Automatically restores 1% of the user's maximum health per second. During sustained combat, the restoration effect increases to 3%. All injury recovery speed is increased by 100 times!]
Ye Feng chose regeneration over bloodlust.
Bloodlust can generate a protective shield, which is more effective at saving lives, but it can also protect new recruits too much.
How can one grow without getting hurt, without bleeding, without feeling pain or itching?
Regeneration is different. It doesn't provide protection, it only provides recovery.
When you get injured, it hurts and you bleed.
Only those who have bled will cherish life.
Ye Feng wanted to make these new recruits taste the pain, but he wouldn't let them actually die.
This is true training. It's flirting with death, dancing on the edge of a knife, but there's always someone holding onto the safety rope.
Dong Sheng glanced at Ye Feng on the high ground and received an affirmative nod.
Three thousand people held their breath at the same time.
A series of roars came from afar, deep, resonant, and echoing, as if thousands of strange beasts were roaring at the same time.
The earth began to tremble.
It was a herd of animals running.
Thousands upon thousands of hooves stomped on the ground simultaneously, creating a deep, rumbling sound.
The first wave of monsters charged out.
Leading the charge was the Wind Wolf, a first-tier exotic beast, the size of a calf, covered in grayish-white fur, and extremely fast.
Behind the Wind Wolf was the Ironclad Beast, a second-tier exotic beast, twice the size of the Wind Wolf, its entire body covered in black armor.
Each step made the ground tremble.
The armored beast was flanked and reared by bloodthirsty tigers.
A third-tier beast, slightly smaller than an armored beast, but exuding a savage aura.
First-order, second-order, and third-order.
Thousands of strange beasts formed a dense formation and rolled towards the new army's position.
Intelligence from headquarters indicated that the White Tiger Fortress was home to tens of thousands of strange beasts.
This is just the first wave.
Dong Sheng took a deep breath and drew his sword. It was his first time commanding so many people; it would be a lie to say he wasn't nervous. But he couldn't let anyone see it, especially not the new recruits. Morale is a fragile thing; it can collapse faster than a dam.
"Hold on!"
"The ranged fighters should launch the first attack!"
The archers in the inner circle simultaneously released their bows.
Hundreds of arrows, like locusts, streaked across the sky and rained down on the beast horde.
Puff puff!
Arrows pierced the wind wolves' fur, and blood splattered. A dozen wind wolves fell, wounded by arrows, but more wind wolves continued their charge, stepping over the corpses of their companions.
The bow and arrow are still too weak. They are barely enough to deal with first-tier beasts, and they are basically just tickling second-tier armored beasts.
The horde of beasts charged to the front of the shield wall.
"Spear thrust!"
The spearmen behind the veteran simultaneously thrust out their spears, hundreds of spears piercing through the gaps in the shields and into the horde of beasts.
Blood flowed down the gun barrel, forming a small stream.
But there were too many monsters. Those in front fell, and those behind continued to charge, stepping over the corpses of their companions.
An armored beast crashed into it.
boom!
A soldier was thrown back by the impact, his weapon flying, and he landed on the people behind him, causing a group of them to fall.
A gap appeared in the defense, and the Bloodthirsty Tiger sensed an opportunity, roaring as it pounced towards the opening.
"Fill in the gap!" Dong Sheng shouted.
A speed-type martial artist rushed out from the side and slashed the Bloodthirsty Tiger in the neck with a single blow.
The bloodthirsty tiger's neck was very thick; the knife cut in half a foot deep, but failed to sever it.
The Bloodthirsty Tiger, in pain, slapped the speed-type martial artist in the chest with its claw, sending him flying.
"Damn it!" Dong Sheng gritted his teeth, about to take action himself, when the veterans had already moved.
An old soldier rushed out from behind the battle lines, his sword flashing silver as it precisely sliced into the wound on the Bloodthirsty Tiger's neck, severing its head completely.
"Fill the gap!" the veteran roared.
Another soldier rushed up with his weapon and filled the gap.
The battle continued. Wave after wave of beasts charged at the defensive formation.
The veterans are fighting desperately to hold on, and the new recruits are gritting their teeth and persevering.
The new recruits' performances varied, some good and some bad.
A young man was pale, and his hand holding the knife was trembling slightly.
His name is Zhao Bing, a collateral descendant of the Zhao family in Jiangcheng, and a third-level martial artist.
His family forced him into the new army, hoping he would get a position and bring honor to the family.
He is a third-tier martial artist, ranking among the top in theoretical studies at the martial arts university, and winning every simulated battle.
But now, facing a real monster, his mind went blank, and his hands trembled as if he had Parkinson's disease.
A second-tier wind wolf broke through the gap in the battle formation and pounced on him.
Zhao Bing instinctively raised his knife, but his movement was too slow.
The wind wolf's gaping maw lunged at his throat, its fangs sharp and saliva dripping from its gaping maw.
That's it. Zhao Bing closed his eyes, awaiting his death.
"Snap!"
The wind wolf's teeth bit into his arm, not his throat.
At the last moment, he instinctively raised his left arm and held it in front of his throat.
"Ah!" Zhao Bing screamed as the sharp teeth of the wind wolf pierced his forearm, and blood splattered everywhere.
A large hand reached out from the side, grabbed the wind wolf by the throat, and ripped it off Zhao Bing.
He was an old soldier, a peak second-tier martial artist, whose cultivation was not as good as Zhao Bing's.
The veteran plunged a knife into the wolf's stomach, twisted it, and the wolf's limbs twitched, its mouth opened, and it collapsed to the ground.
"Young master." The old soldier pulled Zhao Bing up from the ground.
Zhao Bing clutched his bloodied arm, his face flushed with shame. His lips trembled several times as he managed to stammer out, "I...I killed a strange beast."
"Where was it killed?" the veteran asked.
"At...at the martial arts gym. They're in a cage, but they don't have claws or teeth..."
The old soldier laughed, a loud laugh. "Ha! Killing a toothless tiger, does that even count as killing one?"
Zhao Bing's face turned so red it looked like it could bleed, and his voice was barely audible.
The veteran stopped laughing at him. "Stay close to me and watch how I kill them."
This scene was playing out in every corner of the battlefield.
A new recruit was knocked away by the armored beast, rolled several times on the ground, his face bruised and swollen, and his mouth full of blood.
He got up from the ground and touched his ribs.
It's not broken!
The armored beast's blow had at least several tons of force, yet it didn't break his ribs.
He was unaware that he possessed a regenerative talent, restoring 1% of his health per second and increasing the recovery speed of all injuries by 100 times.
He only knew that strange beasts didn't seem... that scary?
A new recruit was slapped in the face by a bloodthirsty tiger, half of his face swelled up like a pig's head, and he lost two teeth.
He covered his face and screamed a few times, then noticed that the wound was healing at a speed visible to the naked eye.
The bleeding stopped, the swelling went down, and even the lost teeth started to grow back.
"Holy crap?" He stared wide-eyed, unable to believe it.
A recruit's spear got stuck in a crevice in an armored beast's shell and he was knocked away by another armored beast.
He tumbled twice in the air and when he crashed to the ground, he thought he was going to die.
He struggled to his feet and discovered that he hadn't broken any bones.
"This beast is no good either! It sent me flying dozens of meters, and my ribs weren't even broken!"
Only veterans and wilderness hunters who have actually killed monsters know this.
It's not that the beasts are incompetent; it's that someone is secretly protecting them.
During the Battle of Jiangcheng, protective shields appeared on the Night Watchmen and military soldiers, blocking the attacks of the Heavenly Demon Clan.
This time there was no protective shield, but the recovery speed was ridiculously fast.
This is no coincidence.
The veterans all looked at the figure on the high ground.