Conquest

Editor: Amaranth

When afternoon arrived, all the routed soldiers finally gathered and after a headcount, their numbers reached 1500. Initially, Shaar wanted to incorporate these men and use them for the upcoming battle, but most of these men received heavy injuries. Although some of them were not that heavily injured, they travelled a long distance to escape so they were exhausted. Moreover, after seeing their brothers and superiors getting slaughtered by the Odins, they lost all their fighting spirits. Terror was written all over their faces and they would be paralyzed if they enter another battle with their current morale battle.

Shaar believed that he didn’t have the skills to immediately awaken the fighting spirits of these men – he wasn’t a legendary hero from the legends, who radiated the aura of the kings when giving a speech. Transforming these escaped rabbits into brave warriors glowing with fighting spirit – this kind of tales only existed in the legends and it was fundamentally impossible in reality.

Therefore he simply organized them into the rear service under supervision of Kato, while reassigning two hundred soldiers from the logistic battalion to the front.

However, one bad news after another started arriving that afternoon!

Shaar divided two hundred cavalrymen into six teams and ordered them to search the surroundings in six different directions. When the six teams came back at the noon, two of them retreated a bit too late when they ran into a small Odin force. After a fierce battle, they were able to retreat but they lost half of their troops during the battle.

The teams that search the six directions, every one of them encountered a small Odin unit during their journey!

In other words, they were surrounded by Odins!

“It is very obvious that these Odins wants to cut us off from contacting outside.” Full of troubles, Shaar scratched his head: “It is most likely the General who is at the frontline still doesn’t know about the misfortune at the rear! No, perhaps they know, but they also ran into some trouble. In addition there is another thing, I am afraid......that the Odins probably marched behind us and already occupied Primal Wildfire town! There were not many garrison troops in Primal Wildfire Town and once the Odins occupies it, they could treat is as a stronghold. This way they can block our road towards south and at the same time preventing the empire’s reinforcements going north.”

Thinking about their predicament, Shaar sighed. The garrison officer Slate, Sarbar, Kato and three other ranking military officers of the camp were assembled in the big tent.

Shaar took down the map from the wall.

“Our situation is not looking very good at the moment ......The strategy this time was to position three armies at the north of Primal Wildfire to resist the Odin’s invasion of the Primal Wildfire Town at the south to keep a reserve regiment. “

“According to the current information, now that both the 2nd and the 9th Armies got annihilated, Hasting already arrived at our back and if they occupied the Primal Wildfire Town......No, it is not an if anymore! They have certainly occupied Primal Wildfire Town! As the matter stands now, even if the support troops at the south are able come to our aid, they will be unable to cross Primal Wildfire Town to go north – Furthermore, I am worried that Hasting who ordered so many small units around us to patrol around because he wants to cut off our messengers. Perhaps once the southern support army receives the news from north, all of us will be corpses!”

In the big tent, only Slate who was a battalion officer who had a bit fighting and army experiences. He nodded and gave Shaar a glance: “That guy Hasting has a big appetite! He defeated the 2nd and 9th Armies and now positioned himself at our rear. He plans to keep us the 13th and 6th Armies in the north, before swallowing us ......Humph! Wanting to destroy four Byzantine Armies in one war, the Lord of War from Odin is too greedy!”

Both Kato and Sarbar were Praetorian Guards and didn’t lead their own soldiers before. They couldn’t join the conversation and could only listen to it, before Sarbar shouted with a voice full of anxiety: “We need to somehow make contact with the general in the north! Let ......Let me lead a cavalry unit and break through towards north!”

Shaar looked at him then replied in a serious tone: “Not possible! It is not that I don’t want to contact the general, but we don’t have the means to do so at the moment! Everything we can think of, don’t you think that Odin’s most famous general can’t? For my guess, no matter if it’s towards south or north, they already planted a net made from small units around us to trap us. Even if you are willing to risk your life to try, I am afraid that it will be vain and waste the little cavalry we have.”

Kato was smarter and he also had some confidence in Shaar: “What do you think?”

“We stay!”Shaar sighed: “We mostly consist of infantry and if we leave the fortification of the camp, no matter if we try to break through the north or flee to the south, it will be a dead end! We are too few in numbers and we need to bring important goods from the logistics battalion. Moreover, we have more than a thousand wounded soldiers and on two legs, how fast can we run? Hasting can outflank us and most of his soldiers are probably cavalry. Even if we just encounter the caribou riders in the wilderness, 800 of them will be enough to annihilate us! Furthermore, I am sure that Hasting has prepared some troops in the vicinity with orders of intercepting us and only waiting for us to leave our camp. Therefore ......Only by staying here and relying on the fortification, we have a slim chance of survival.”

Pausing for a moment, Shaar took a deep breath and his eyes were full of determination while saying in a serious tone: “My brothers, I don’t fear death! I also know that my brothers of our 13th Army don’t feared death either! However right now, we have a more important duty to complete compare to death!”

“What duty?”

Shaar forcefully squeezed his chin and clenched his teeth while saying:”Defend this camp! Hold this stronghold!!”

He then explained: “With our military strength which is mostly made of infantry, even if we march north, we can’t aid the general. Even if our troops die in battle, it won’t have any value. According to my guesses, once the general in the north discover the situation and notice that he is getting flanked from both sides by Hasting and the Odin army in the valley, he will turn around and try to breaking through!

If we lose this foothold and the general slaughter through the blockade with the main army, if they don’t even make a refuge, where will they find shelter? With no stronghold to rest, they will be without supplies and surrounded by the enemy in the wild. In just a few days, enemy can to starve them or squeeze them to death! At that time, not even the gods can save them from that desperate situation!

The road towards south is already blocked by the Odins who occupied Primal Wildfire Town! We can only stay here and wait for the general to break through their way back. There are large amounts of army rations and weapon supplies here, and everyone can make use of the aid station to fortify our defenses and defend while we wait for reinforcements from the south... This is the only way out! Not just for us, but also for our general in the north!”

Shaar’s words immediately affected the people who were present. Everyone in this tent was only low-level officers and no one had thought that a Praetorian guard would have so much insight.

“The third reason ......” Shaar lowered his voice a bit and said: “Hasting will try to conquer this camp as soon as possible! The longer we defend here; we can attract more military strength from Hasting! This way we can alleviate some pressure from the general at the north and help him breakthrough......”

“This is probably the situation! If we defend here, then the 13th Army has a slim chance of survival! If we lose here......Will we force the cavalry of 13th Army to smash their heads against the city wall of Primal Wildfire Town?”Slate the garrison officer added these words full of vigour.

All the military officers of 13th Army didn’t show the slightest fear and roared excitedly again and again, started to gearing up for battle. Just when Kato who was about to leave last, he suddenly stopped and asked Shaar in a low voice: “Hey, are you sure the general will slaughter his way through to come back? The enemy is Hasting! Are you certain that we don’t need to go and aid him?”

Shaar sighed before whispering: “First, our military strength is too small and with only infantries, there is simply no strength to aid them. Secondly......Believe in the ability of our general! The power of 13th Army is not a lie right? Even a rookie like me has confidence in them don’t tell me an old bird like you is wavering?”

Pausing for a moment, Shaar smiled and squinted his eyes while putting on a somewhat weird smile: “Do not forget, the general still has the master of escaping Ruhr at his side! He is Byzantine Empire’s sliest rabbit.”

※※※

Tension and hectic activities were spreading through the camp. Large quantities of weapons were getting distributed; even the cart drivers of the logistics battalion and craftsmen were given equipments. Kato that guy unexpectedly pulled out several good things from the armory.

Three ballista wagons were made for medium to long-range range attacks. Their huge bolts had a terrifying pierced power and the ballistas were placed on a two wheeled carts. With one load, it could launch a dozen of bolts. When Shaar tried its power, their shooting range was about 800 meters wide and within 100 meters; the bolt could even penetrate a two layered shield. Once ten bolts were fired, the coverage was quite big. When facing against the enemy’s frontal charge, this weapon could definitely become the trump card on the battlefield!

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polybolos)

The only flaw was that this ballistas didn’t have many bolt reserves and once they shot them away, it took some time to install new bolts. According to the firing range and the infantry charge speed, they could be fired just 3 times.

The second amazing find was a small trebuchet with an even longer firing range. It could throw a stone over a thousand meters, but to finding a big stone was difficult. Shaar mobilized all the logistic soldiers to go and collect big stones and Kato also prepared some jars filled with oil. Nonetheless, this type of weapon didn’t have an accurate aim but it could hit everywhere within the range of the attack......If one wanted a precise attack, one could only rely on luck.

That was why in the Byzantine army this type of trebuchets was named as the: Ungrateful artillery.

There were four of these trebuchets since the 13th Army was a cavalry unit and they didn’t prepared this kind of heavy siege weapon.

Shaar’s premonition was accurate.

On the busy morning of the second day, the Odin’s assault army arrived! As he suspected, it was very obvious that in order to prevent the 13th Army from breaking through towards north, Hasting wanted to conquer this camps as fast as possible. He wanted to block the 13th Army from returning south!

When the morning arrived, the soldiers on observation post sent out a nervous shouts and Shaar immediately rushed to the platform and looked in the distance towards north......

There was dust all over the sky was the only thing he could see!!!

※※※

A dense mass of Odins appeared from the north, covering the hills and the main road.They were like a swarm of ants sweeping over the horizon. The front rows were filled with one Odin soldier after another and most of them weren’t wearing anything on their upper bodies – being born in northern Empire Odin, they were all used to the snow and cold weather. They didn’t feared the little cold winter wind in this place.

With their war axes in their hands, those Odins howled in the cold air while spouting hot air in form of large white steaming mist that would float above their heads.

Seeing the dense crowd in front of him, Shaar’s heart started to beat like crazy. The Odin’s Army seemed boundless as his eyes couldn’t see the end of it. This dense crowd really made people’s scalp tingle!

One war cry after another was spreading throughout the camp. Under the shouts of the officers, a large number of soldiers started carrying weapons and shields welled over. Archers were quickly lining up in formation and the tension could be seen on each one of their faces.

Shaar tested his new axe in his hand. This long axe was taken out from the armory and it was normally used on horseback. After shortening the handle, Shaar raised it in his hand while feeling it’s now perfect weight.

When the morning sunlight shone on the Odin formation, their axes reflected the light, creating a landscape of white cold brightness!

“Damn ......so many......”

Shaar mumbled to himself.

Standing beside him was the garrison officer Slate. After giving Shaar a glance, he patted his shoulder while whispering: “Don’t be nervous, the other side has about 10,000 men.”

Turning his head, Shaar looked at that fellow and asked: “How do you know?”

Slate was busy helping the organization for a day already and he understood the Shaar’s way of thinking a bit. He replied in a low voice: “You still lack experience after all. After spending several years in the army, you can see how many enemies there are. When looking at the formation and from its thickness, one could guess the number of men.”

Fuck! 10,000 men......10,000 men were too many! Although he was able to assemble 2000 men here, many were taken from the logistics battalion and craftsmen who had taken arms.

Shaar fiercely spat on the ground.

Fear infested his heart.

Fear was spreading everywhere.

This wasn’t a joke. Except for dim-witted people, after their birth everyone feared death. Seeing all those Odins in front of him made his scalp tingle and Shaar was suddenly out of breath. His mouth and throat got so dry that he couldn’t even spit and his heart started to beat wildly!

At this moment, his mind couldn’t help but ask one question:

I, can I really stop these Odins’ assault? Damn it! Their numbers are way too many! Can I stop them?

Or, is it possible for me to survive?!

Those who fear death are not real men? Stop joking! Even real men fear death!

Grabbing his axe tightly, he touched his chest and felt the hardness. Shaar hid Dragonscales both in front of his chest and at his back – He didn’t bring a lot of Dragonscales and except for him, he secretly gave both Sarbar two pieces. As for other people ......He didn’t had any more with him.

Whether he lives or dies, it all depended on this battle!

The hillbilly maliciously gripped the handle of his axe tightly!

He didn’t have any sense of belonging towards the Byzantine Empire.

To be bluntly honest, his sense of belonging towards the 13th Army was not so deep that he would willingly sacrifice his life for them. Up until now, he only felt the friendship towards his Praetorian Guard brothers.

In such a dangerous situation, he already considered to be a coward and flee when battle started. He could find a hideout in Primal Wildfire and wait until the battle was over. Who cared whether Byzantine or Odin won the war, he could still return to Primal Wildfire Town and continue his life as a hillbilly hunter.

But......No!

This hillbilly had the dignity of a hillbilly! His only friends were here and discarding them to escape wasn’t something a hillbilly could do!

There was also another important reason.

This hillbilly also had his own ideals!

Initially when he left the mountains in order to go to the outside world, the reason was because he didn’t want to live in a humiliating nest in the mountain for the rest of his life! He wanted to be a mercenary and venture this world as a warrior!

Who said that hillbillies didn’t have any ambitions? He had ambitions! Although so far, this hillbilly didn’t think things such as obtaining power, influence and wealth, but he had a little of his own ambition in his mind.

At least ......get some “achievements”! As for kind of achievements, the concept was still a bit fuzzy in his heart right now.

He didn’t thought about it too much.

This battle, if he died then everything would be over! If he could survive it......That was an “achievement” in this hillbilly’s heart!!

(This uncle won’t die! Will not die here! Uncle is still a virgin! This uncle didn’t enjoy a woman yet! There are still so many cold coins at home that need to be spent! This uncle still needs to buy a land and a big house! This uncle still needs enjoy his life!

Therefore, this uncle will not die here! Absolutely cannot die!!)

The Odins howling unified as they continued to howl. It was as if the howls were coming from wild beasts, slowly intimidating the hearts of the Byzantine soldiers one after another.

However, exactly at this time, a tall and brave figure suddenly stepped forward. Facing forwards at the distance against this dense mass, he was roaring continuously. After taking a deep breath, he roared once again!!

His roared was ferocious, enthusiastic and unyielding!

If he was a wild beast ......Then, he would certainly be a majestic one!!

“Come! Odins!! This uncle will not die!! I will never die here!!”

Shaar’s face muscles twisted as he turned his head, his ferocious expression was something that resembled a cornered beast. Shaar’s expression even stunned Slate who was standing beside him.

The hillbilly raised his axe and roared madly towards the surrounding soldiers! These words would later become a slogan of his legend!

......

“Kills the Odins!! Kills the Odins!! Kill them all!!!”

His voice resonated like thunder!

EN: ( Editing this chapter literally killed me hope you all enjoyed it)