I, the prince in distress, send money

Chapter 362 A Magnificent Performance

The wind blowing from the south across Rocky Heights carried the smell of gunpowder and blood, ruffling Chris's hair.

Around 2 p.m., he stood atop a makeshift wooden watchtower on the high ground, his brass binoculars steadily scanning the battlefield below, which resembled a boiling furnace.

Below, the battle raged fiercely.

On the southern front, the Retalians, relying on the first line of defense they had captured, launched wave after wave of fierce attacks, like wounded but even more ferocious trapped beasts.

Before the breastwork of the second line of defense at Hegland, smoke filled the air, fires flickered, and the volleys of flintlock muskets, the roar of field artillery, the shouts of soldiers, and the dying cries mingled into a chilling symphony of death.

Every time the Knights of Leteria charged with their squires and auxiliary soldiers, the area churned and boiled violently, like a lake tossed with a boulder.

On the western flank, smoke and dust billowed into the sky. Through the binoculars, the battle in Captain Lennart's area had entered its most brutal and intense phase.

The torrent of steel collided violently with the steel jungle, and with each impact, one could almost hear the muffled sound of bones shattering.

The barbed wire defenses were torn apart, the trenches were filled with corpses, and the halberdier formations fluctuated and dented violently under the charge of the heavy cavalry, like a block of iron being kneaded by a huge force, but never completely broke apart.

Soldiers could be seen desperately thrusting their halberds, hooking their warhorses, and engaging in a bloody battle of life for life with the fallen knights. The ground in that area seemed to be stained with a dark red.

boom……

A dull, thunderous roar, like the beating of the earth's heart, rang out again—it was Leteria's stone-throwing cannon.

The enormous stone projectiles ripped through the sky with a destructive whistle, hurtling far into the rear of the Highland camp. Each impact was accompanied by a tremor of the earth and a towering column of dust.

A stone landed on the edge of the assembly area, which was close to the front line, instantly smashing several empty supply wagons to pieces. Wood chips and dirt sprayed out like a fountain, and several soldiers who were carrying the wounded were thrown into the air by the shockwave, their fate unknown.

The other landed further back, causing a panic commotion near the medical point, with the blast overturning canvas and equipment.

Panic spread like an invisible plague between shelling bursts.

The artillery of the field artillery regiment thwarted the Leterian stone-throwing cannons' attempt to approach the front lines, but they could not destroy these cast-iron cannons. The carriages of two of the five stone-throwing cannons were destroyed, so only three were firing.

However, even with only three stone-throwing cannons, even with the long reloading time after each shot, and even knowing that these giant cannons were extremely inaccurate, the sheer power and unpredictable trajectory of these heavy cannons capable of firing hundreds of pounds of stone still cast a shadow over the hearts of the bravest soldiers on the front lines.

However, on the rocky highlands, Prince Chris's expression remained unusually calm.

His brow didn't even furrow at the roar of the catapult; his eyes remained calm as he calmly observed every subtle change on the battlefield through his telescope.

The situation in the south is somewhat critical, but it's not enough; the number of enemy troops coming up is still insufficient.

The east side is the same as always. The Minisians are slacking off, and although the scene looks lively, they are actually all putting on an act.

Chris didn't understand what the Minisians wanted to do.

However, this did not stop him from having the siege artillery regiments on the Rocky Heights also feign firing, using gunpowder and iron barrels to create theatrical explosions and smoke, misleading the Reteria in other directions and making them think that the fighting in the east was very intense and that the Bagnian heavy artillery was not available.

As for the western front, the cavalry and infantry of Leteria are brave and fearless, but their fighting strength is not as fierce as that of the knights. The 8th and 9th Guard Regiments stationed in the west are still in the first line of defense and have not been driven away.

"Woooooooo..."

Chris heard the distant, high-pitched bugle call and immediately stood up and headed south.

With the help of his telescope and the height provided by the watchtower and the rocky highlands, Chris easily spotted the reinforcements of the Leterian troops to the south. A new cavalry force, trailing a cloud of yellow smoke, rushed toward the defenses of Hygrand.

Chris looked very carefully and meticulously. When he found a large pile of at least two thousand tin cans in the enemy cavalry, along with numerous triangular and square flags of strange colors and patterns, Chris laughed.

The Retelian cavalry consisted of a large number of squires and mounted infantry, but fewer actual knights, who formed the backbone and command of the Retelian cavalry.

These Leterian knights, for traditional reasons, usually carried two kinds of flags when they went into battle. One was a pennant, which was mainly used for personal identification, so that other soldiers could easily identify their knights on the battlefield.

The other square flag was usually used by knights of higher rank. This flag was not only a symbol of status, but also meant that the knight had the authority to command other knights and soldiers.

In other words, a single square flag represented a unit of 100 heavy cavalrymen and a feudal knight of the rank of viscount or baron.

Now, judging from the number of flags, Chris couldn't count the pennants, and there were at least forty or fifty square flags, and there were probably more in places he couldn't see.

Seeing this, Chris knew that the Leterians were going all out to break through the southern Highland Legion's defenses before nightfall.

"Sir, have the bugle sound and order the reserve force of the Second Army to advance to the southern border to support the Hegland Corps."

"Yes, Your Highness."

……

The command horn blowing from the rocky highlands, deep and majestic, pierced through the omnipresent clamor of the battlefield and clearly reached the ears of Little Knife Stabbing Buttocks.

When the bugle sounded, he was half-crouched behind a supply wagon blackened by artillery fire, carefully wiping his two menacing steel battle axes with a greasy rag.

The dark red bloodstains on the axe had long since dried and solidified, but he wiped them off meticulously, as if preparing for some kind of sacred ritual.

As the horn fell silent, Xiao Dao abruptly raised his head.

Beneath the tiger helmet, on a face etched with the marks of wind, frost, and battle, there was no trace of the solemnity one would expect from receiving a dangerous order. Instead, a near-fanatical smile spread across his face, revealing a set of gleaming white teeth.

"Brothers, did you hear that?!"

He stood up, his voice like a broken gong, yet with a strange penetrating power that instantly drowned out the surrounding noise.

"Chris has sent a signal. It's from the south. The NPCs in Hegland are about to collapse. It's time for us 'Mountain Tigers' to stretch our muscles!"

Beside him, the battle group members, already fully prepared, roared and echoed in response.

These players control characters with a wide variety of equipment, but their eyes burn with the same flame... a pure desire that transcends fear, for challenge, for achievement, and for the ultimate combat experience.

"Target: the second line of defense on the southern front. Stay close to me!"

Without further ado, Xiao Dao slammed the two newly polished battle axes together in his hands, creating a piercing clang that sounded like the battle cry.

"Mountain Tiger, Mountain Tiger... Charge!!!"

"Roar……"

A deafening roar erupted from the reserve team. Xiao Dao, like a tiger that had caught the scent of blood, was the first to charge out.

His heavy armor was not the full-coverage iron can of plate knights, but was cleverly pieced together from thick steel plates, tough leather and chainmail, balancing defense and flexibility.

The heavy footsteps of the tigers echoed, each step causing the muddy ground to tremble slightly.

Like a torrent of steel bursting its banks, they surged forward along the pre-planned cover path between trenches and open ground, rushing toward the southern front where the smoke was thickest and the fighting was fiercest.

The closer you get to the front lines, the hotter and more pungent the air becomes.

The thick smoke was almost suffocating. The sharp whistling of shells, the bursts of flintlock musket fire, the muffled roar of field artillery, and the most agonizing screams and roars of dying humans all merged into a soul-shaking sound wave that pounded against everyone's eardrums.

But for Xiaodao, all of this was not an obstacle, but rather the kindling that ignited his passion.

He rushed out of the last section of cover, and everything before him suddenly opened up, instantly transforming into a living hell.

The second line of defense of the Highland Legion was already littered with corpses in front of the breastwork.

The tattered barbed wire resembled the torn sinews of a giant beast, and the twisted chevaux-de-frise were soaked in pools of blood. The breastwork itself was also covered in damage and signs of smoke and fire.

Behind the defensive line, their own field artillery continued to roar, firing deadly iron balls at the area where the Retalians were gathered in the distance.

Right in front of the defensive line, a new wave of Retalian charges was crashing against the crumbling ramparts.

This time, the scale far exceeded that of the past. The tin cans and flags seen through the binoculars now transformed into a real, suffocating sense of oppression.

Hundreds and thousands of heavily armored knights, like mobile steel fortresses, surrounded by their squires and mounted infantry, braved the dense firepower of the defenders and frantically charged at several breaches in the defensive line.

Their warhorses were clad in thick armor, and the knights wielded lances, maces, and two-handed greatswords, each swing accompanied by a piercing shriek that tore through the air.

The musketeers of Hygrand fired wildly at close range, the lead bullets clanging and sparking as they hit the plate armor, but they were unlikely to inflict fatal wounds or kill with a single shot.

The halberdiers formed a final barrier with their flesh and blood, using their halberds to hook, stab, and push, trying to keep those steel monsters out.

The two sides engaged in a fierce tug-of-war at the breach, with people falling every second, and the blood turning the land into a sticky swamp.

boom!
Another muffled, heart-stopping bang rang out as a Leterian stone cannon projectile, accompanied by a piercing whistle, slammed into the open ground not far behind the defensive line, sending up a towering wave of mud and rubble. The massive shockwave made the members of the "Overmountain Tiger" battle group who were charging nearby feel unsteady on their feet and their ears ring.

"Damn it, you stupid field gunner, why haven't you taken care of the enemy's artillery yet!"

Xiao Dao cursed, completely ignoring the earth-shattering force; his gaze was fixed on the most intense breach in front of him.

There, an exceptionally tall and imposing Reteria knight, whose armor was adorned with magnificent griffin emblems, was wielding a heavy flail like a human battering ram, smashing two Hegland halberdiers who tried to block his way away, halberd and all.

The knights and squires behind him were trying to pour in through the gap he had torn open.

"That's the big guy!"

Xiao Dao's eyes gleamed with extreme excitement, as if a hunter had spotted the fiercest prey.

"Good opponent, make way for me!"

He roared, not slowing down but pushing his speed to the limit. His heavy body burst out with astonishing kinetic energy, like an out-of-control chariot, crashing into the gaping hole that resembled a meat grinder.

A Leterian squire cavalryman who was trying to intercept him had just swung his half-sword down when he was swiftly slashed upwards by the dagger-wielding left-handed battle axe.

"Crack!" The steel knight's sword snapped in two, but the axe blade continued its momentum, cleaving into the squire's relatively thin breastplate and cutting him off his horse amidst a spray of blood.

The dagger didn't even glance at the fallen enemy, his steps unwavering; his eyes were fixed solely on the griffin-embroidered knight wielding a flail. "Get out of my way, you piece of trash!"

He roared, his right hand drawing a sharp arc with his battle axe, severing a mounted infantryman blocking his path along with his horse's leg. Hot, viscous blood splattered onto his helmet and breastplate, but he paid no heed. Instead, he stuck out his tongue and licked the blood droplets that had splashed onto his lips, his eyes growing even more fanatical.

"Roar!!!"

The griffin rider also spotted the heavily armored berserker charging like a mad tiger and sensed his pure and violent fighting spirit.

He abandoned his attempt to break through the defensive line, abruptly turned his horse around, and the heavy flail, with a destructive whoosh, slammed down on Xiaodao like a meteor hammer—a blow powerful enough to flatten a piece of pig iron.

Faced with this overwhelming blow, Xiao Dao not only did not retreat, but instead let out a deafening roar. He slightly bent his knees, lowered his center of gravity, crossed his two battle axes above his head, and resolutely chose to withstand the attack.

A deafening clang of metal clashing against metal pierced the eardrums of everyone around, sending sparks flying.

Two deep pits were instantly created in the mud beneath Xiao Dao's feet. The enormous impact caused his arms to tremble violently, and a sweet taste rose in his throat. But he stubbornly held on, the heavy flail held firmly in place by his double axes. His eyes, hidden beneath his helmet, were bloodshot from the force of the impact, but the light within them burned even brighter and more intensely.

"strong enough!!!"

Xiao Dao roared, his arm muscles bulging like iron, and suddenly swung upwards, his body spinning like a top. With the force of the spin, his right-hand battle axe, accompanied by a piercing whistle as it tore through the air, slashed fiercely at the foreleg joint of the griffin knight's warhorse.

This is his real goal... to deal with heavy cavalry, first break the horse's leg.

The griffin rider was clearly not prepared for the opponent's terrifying strength, nor did he expect that this seemingly reckless berserker would have such precise and deadly tactics. He cried out in alarm and tried to rein in his horse to avoid it, but it was too late!

puff!

The axe blade cleaved precisely into the gaps in the armor, embedding itself deeply into flesh and bone. The warhorse let out a mournful cry of extreme despair and collapsed forward to its knees.

The immense inertia hurled the griffin rider on his back forward, the heavy armor making him like an out-of-control iron ball, crashing heavily into the muddy pool of blood!
"Kill all these tin cans..."

Little Knife didn't even glance at the griffin knight struggling on the ground. He knew the knight wouldn't be able to get up anytime soon, so he roared and his twin axes transformed into two deadly whirlwinds once again, charging fiercely into the group of Leterian knights who were in a brief state of chaos due to their commander's fall from his horse.

His battle had only just begun. With the fierce charge of the "Over-the-Mountain Tiger" battle group, the precarious southern defense line finally received a powerful and resilient support force.

The Overlord Tigers were not the only ones involved. As they joined the battle and changed the already fiercely contested situation, even more players arrived from the rear.

Unlike the Hygrand Legion, which is half halberdiers and half musketeers, resulting in insufficient infantry firepower, the player's firepower is much more ferocious.

Putting everything else aside, just considering the Overland Tiger battle group, when the battle group leader, Little Knife Stabs the Butt, charged into the battlefield, players from further away pushed over twenty Hundred Tigers together, roughly aiming at the front, to pull the fuse behind them.
In no time at all, hundreds and thousands of rockets flew in, bringing with them acrid smoke and sharp whistles, cascading down like waterfalls onto the area outside the barbed wire fence, creating a fire barrier.

These hundred tigers charging rockets are not very effective at harming knights protected by plate armor, but they are very effective at scaring warhorses, killing squires and archers, and preventing them from entering the battlefield.

At the same time, more than thirty Tiger Descending Arrows were fired from different places at the cavalrymen who were charging on horseback on the battlefield. The dazzling flames and violent explosions served as the best barricades, stopping the warhorses from charging.

Besides the Overlord Tigers, other squads also delivered spectacular performances when they entered the battlefield.

The Han and Tang warriors appeared as heavy cavalry this time. Even though there were only one hundred of them, they charged towards the most lively and intense center of the battlefield under the leadership of the black and white bear, and clashed head-on with the Leterian knights there.

Even so, they were not the fiercest group, because some were even more valiant than tigers or warriors from the Han and Tang dynasties.

Just as the double-axe whirlwind, with its daggers piercing the buttocks, swirled into the knights' ranks, and the iron cavalry of the Han-Tang warriors clashed with the Leterian knights with deafening roars, a completely different, chilling burst of maniacal laughter erupted from a slightly chaotic flank on the southern front of the battlefield.

"Hahaha... Burn it for me!!!"

Accompanied by this frenzied roar, a torrent of crimson, violent, twisted, and rolling flames, like the breath of a dragon spewing from the mouth of hell, suddenly erupted from a strangely shaped metal cart being pushed by two people.

The person pushing the cart was none other than Ye Aohenai. He looked like a madman at the moment, with a blackened tin bucket that he had picked up from somewhere on his head as a helmet, only his two eyes, which were shining with extreme excitement, were visible.

He leaned forward, his hands gripping tightly a thick metal nozzle connected to a huge iron canister at the front of the cart.

His partner, a muscular man with an equally fanatical expression, gritted his teeth and used all his strength to stabilize the vehicle, while frantically stomping on a lever pressurization device to pressurize the metal can.

The spewing flames, carrying a suffocating heat and a pungent smell of burning oil, instantly engulfed everything within fifteen meters in front of them.

The crimson flames, like the forked tongue of a giant python, precisely licked several Leterian squires and two mounted infantrymen who were trying to break through a gap in the barbed wire.

"Uh ah ah..."

A bloodcurdling scream instantly erupted, drowning out the surrounding shouts of battle.

The flames were not ordinary torches, but rather a thick, highly adhesive burning fuel that ignited the leather armor and cotton clothing of the squires, which were soaked with sweat and grease, and set fire to the manes and tails of their warhorses.

The man and horse were instantly transformed into running fireballs, struggling and rolling wildly in extreme pain, yet unable to extinguish the flames from hell, the air filled with the terrifying smell of charred flesh.

"Awesome! That's fucking awesome!"

Ye Ao He Nai laughed wildly and slightly adjusted the angle of the nozzle sleeve.

call……

A large area of ​​hot, sparkling oil mist spread out in a fan shape, covering a wider area.

Although the range was shortened, the kill radius increased dramatically, causing the oil mist to envelop seven or eight Leterian infantrymen who were huddled together trying to break through.

The flaming oil vapors landed on their faces, hands, and thin clothing, setting them ablaze.

The screams were deafening as the soldiers turned into writhing, human-shaped torches, which, in their tumbling, ignited the scattered corpses and dry grass around them, creating a small sea of ​​fire.

Suddenly, the battlefield around Ye Aohe was filled with thick smoke, and the scene resembled a hellish inferno.

This horrific scene instantly drew the attention of all the combatants around them. Whether it was the defenders of Hygrand or the attackers of Reteria, they were all stunned by this pure incineration weapon that was beyond the comprehension of the times.

Fear, like an icy tide, instantly overwhelmed the Leterian people in the area engulfed by flames. They retreated in terror, huddling together for fear of being touched by the horrific flames.

"See that...see that? This is the power of flames! My modified flamethrower is just...burning...turning everything to ashes!"

Ye Ao, however, was carried away with his triumph. Beneath his simple tin bucket helmet was a twisted and excited smile. Amidst his maniacal laughter, he turned around and waved to his partner, who pushed the cart forward a few more steps. He then pushed the flamethrower over the breastwork, attempting to spray the flames at the denser enemy ranks.

However, going too deep into enemy territory often comes at a price; in the chaos of battle, deadly threats can come from unexpected angles.

Just as Ye Aohenai and his partner were immersed in the crazy pleasure of the "barbecue feast", a Leterian musketeer who had been forced back to the flank by the flames and was hiding behind a half-charred barricade, endured his fear of the terrifying flame weapon and completed the reloading.

He saw the two madmen controlling the fire-breathing demons, especially the huge steel canister in front of Ye Aohenai that reflected an ominous light in the firelight... It was the most conspicuous part of the entire device.

The musketeer took a deep breath, mounted his 18mm matchlock musket on the barricade, raised the muzzle slightly, aimed at the huge iron can, and decisively pulled the trigger.

boom!
A crisp gunshot rang out, but it wasn't very loud amidst the crackling of the flames and screams.

But the next moment...

Ding, pfft!

The lead bullet hit the steel can precisely.

The flamethrower's design was not perfect; the seemingly reliable steel canister failed to stop the lead bullets, and inside the canister was highly compressed, volatile fuel...

Therefore, the moment the lead bullet penetrated the tank, the sparks and metal fragments generated by the friction instantly ignited the leaking oil vapors.

boom……

A deafening roar, far more muffled and chilling than the sound of a stone cannon hitting the ground, suddenly erupted!
It wasn't an explosion, but a violent, instantaneous burst of combustion!

The huge iron can was like a ignited powder keg, expanding and tearing apart.

Driven by internal pressure, the massive amount of fuel stored in the fuel mixture, along with air, transforms into a destructive shockwave of flames that spreads wildly in all directions in a spherical shape.

The cart was instantly blown to pieces!
Before Ye Ao and his partner could even scream, they were engulfed by the hottest and most intense flames originating from their own weapons. Their figures flashed in the expanding fireball for less than half a second before being completely vaporized and carbonized.

Only two twisted, charred outlines, barely recognizable as human figures, remained on the spot, along with countless burning metal fragments and sticky oil splattering in all directions.

The core temperature of the deflagration was terrifyingly high, even causing metals to melt and deform.

Even more terrifying was that the massive fireball and shockwave created by the explosion, along with the splashing burning fuel, instantly engulfed everything within a 20-meter radius.

The soldiers and corpses that had just been set ablaze by Ye Aohenai, along with a dozen or so Reteria soldiers who couldn't escape in time and a few unlucky Hegland soldiers, and even the section of the chevaux-de-frise, were all engulfed by this sudden hellfire.

"Ugh..."

"Help!"

"Fire! Fire!"

This sudden, devastating self-destruction, originating from their own side, momentarily brought the entire southern battlefield to a standstill. Even Xiao Dao, who was engaged in fierce fighting, instinctively paused, staring in astonishment at the area where a huge column of black smoke and hellfire had risen.

"Holy crap... that idiot Ye Ao set himself on fire?!"

A player controlling the Hundred Tigers Galloping Over the Mountain Tiger stared in disbelief at the small mushroom cloud and muttered to himself.

The Leterian offensive in this area was plunged into greater chaos and stagnation due to the horrific self-destruction and the engulfing inferno.

Despite his pride, Ye Ao completed his "famous scene" on the battlefield in the most "glamorous" way, at the cost of his life, that of his partner, and dozens of enemies around him, all instantly turning to ashes.

The player held off the third and fiercest wave of the Leterian charge.

On the rocky high ground, Chris saw this scene clearly through his binoculars. He immediately laughed and waved to the flag bearer behind him to wave the flag.

"Heavy artillery regiment, all units, target: the southern front, the enemy's reinforcements. Fire at breakneck speed, do not stop before the artillery overheats. I want to use shells to cut off the enemy's retreat."

In this battle, I will spare those knights and break the spine of the Leterians!

(End of this chapter)