Chapter 132
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Just as the sun rose above the horizon and cast its light across the land Ben gave the orders for two hundred rifled cannons to open fire on the sleeping enemy camp with explosive rounds.
The enemy thought the arrow barrage yesterday was deadly but compared to the cannon bombardment it could be seen as a friendly greeting. The people of this world were still unfamiliar with explosions and the deafening blasts were a terrifying experience to wake up to.
Large craters of earth were blasted into the landscape while tents full of men were sent sailing above the camp. Dirt, body parts, and supplies rained down on those fortunate enough to not yet be caught in the rain of shells being launched from over eight hundred yards away.
Bens rifled cannons have enough distance to attack the enemy camp anywhere along the eastern and southern walls of the Rodara capital. As the troops on the walls watched the horrifying spectacle below them they shook off their shock and joined in on the attack.
It was clear their king was preparing to make his move against the invaders. They went to the northern and western walls and began to attack the troops the cannons were unable to target. The enemy was quickly woken up to a demonstration on how far a trained Elf could shoot a mythril compound bow. Up until today, they thought they were a safe distance from the walls, but they paid a hefty price to learn otherwise.
______________________________
Ben had decided not to leave the protection of the canyon and arranged his troops just outside the eastern canyon entrance. The frontline troops were facing in a northeast direction which was the direction of the capital city from this location.
[2nd Day Battle Map]: [https://i.postimg.cc/Y2QZfGs8/3-Kingdoms-Second-Day-Frontline.jpg]
The foot soldiers made up the center of the frontline while the archers and cultivator/magi lined up in the second and third rows behind them.
The shock troops were no longer being hidden and placed out on the front line flanks.
On the left flank, the mounted cavalry lined up with the two hundred armored Half-Giants behind them.
The War Elephants were protecting the right flank and the armored dire tigers were patiently waiting behind them for orders.
The only creatures kept in hiding were the two black dragons. The black dragons had a natural ability called dragon fear which caused fear and panic to spread across enemy armies. Even Ben's troops had a difficult time getting near the dragons by cause of the ever-present dragon fear ability.
Athena explained that the stronger a person or creature is the less they would be affected by the dragon fear. When Ben got close to the dragons and placed a hand on them he could feel a slight pressure which might send a slight shiver through him.
For Ben, this could all be due from seeing a fantasy creature who was known for such devastation in stories and movies now right in front of him. When you have that giant head with a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth breathing on your face from inches away it is definitely an unnerving encounter.
_________________________________
Ben stood behind the line of cannons who were currently destroying the enemy camp from the same hilltop he used to launch an arrow volley from yesterday. This hilltop is located a just over two hundred yards east out in front of the current frontline.
He was attempting to force the enemy commander to send his troops out to attack his position. If the enemy refused to attack he would continue to hammer away at them for the remainder of the day.
The only thing which worried Ben was the enemy might decide to swing around north of the city walls. This would place the city in between him and the enemy forcing him to move his cannons and possibly his frontline.
He liked having the canyon to their back while they fought. If things got too out of hand they always had the options to retreat into the canyon which would provide them with smaller battlefield and fewer enemy troops to deal with at one given time.
Over in the enemy camp, they couldn't understand what was happening at first. It wasn't until reports came in of Avalon troops who were once again occupying the small hill southwest of them and large clouds of smoke were rising from it that they attributed the explosions to them.
This was the only logical conclusion. They had never seen cannons and had no idea how they were casing such destruction but each day when the Avalon forces appeared on that damn hill their men would soon begin dying due to their attacks.
_________________________________
Commander Galloway had a front row seat to watch the fireworks show yesterday as his fellow cultivators from his kingdom attacked the women on the hilltop. He saw how the women in white dresses were sent to the backside of the hill and a new group of about fifty people came forward to replace them.
Just as expected the Avalon troops attempted to shoot down the Botodor cultivators with arrows but their speed and agility allowed them to bypass the arrow volley and approach the Avalon troops at breathtaking speeds.
Just when they thought the Botodor cultivators were going to engage the Avalon troops countless magic spells shot out. The Botodor cultivators were obviously slowed down and some were injured by the surprise attack, but they continued to push forward and attack the group of magi.
Then yet another startling event took place when the group of magi began running in an out of combat at impossible speeds and even if they were not a strong as the Botodor cultivators their numbers made up for it with the unrelenting blows that fell on them from every direction.
Commander Galloway watched as they were each individually eliminated. Before the Avalon troops decide to leave the hill a young man wearing shiny metal armor ruthlessly went around to each of the Botodor cultivators and drove his sword into their hearts.
Any hope that Commander Galloway had in saving at least some of those cultivators had been instantly dashed away. It was his orders that sent them out to fight and now his kingdom had lost every impressive cultivator they had.
It was a huge blow to their Botodor kingdoms defenses, and he feared how the king would punish him for this. Even if he still takes the Rodara region he might still lose his military position or even his life.
Now things had gone from bad to worse! The Avalon troops were now able to attack them from incredible distances and if he were to withdraw further from this location they could no longer prevent the entrance or exit from the southern and western walls including through the city gate.
He had no choice but to send troops out to end this cannon fire or the siege would be broken. After sitting here for over a month and starving the people of Rodwynne it was all about to become a huge waste of time if he retreated away from the capital city.
___________________________________
Inside the siege camp out of range from the cannons Commander Galloway once again gathered the cultivators and military officers.
He explained they had just under forty thousand troops left and the Avalon forces were threatening to push them away from the Rodara capital city with their strange weapons.
If the invaders did not remove this threat the time they put into this invasion and siege would be a complete waste. As it is if the Avalon troops wanted they could quickly begin to relay supplies to the city walls. The invaders were already too far away now to stop this.
This puzzled the commander why they had not used the break in their lines to do just this, but what he didn't know food, supplies, and resources were continuously brought in every day through the teleport formations located in the capital and the other besieged towns on the northern border.
The other northern cultivator had learned how the Botodor cultivator had been all killed yesterday. This made them even more unwilling to join the assault until Commander Galloway lost his temper.
"If anyone from the northern allied kingdoms wishes to remain behind for this next attack then leave the camp now and return to your kingdoms! If you are a cultivator or a slave EVERYONE besides five thousand men are going to follow me in this attack! I will leave behind a small force to guard the enemies capital cities gates to prevent the garrison from sallying out or from supplies being brought in!"
"Commander Galloway you should watch your tone, sir! We, cultivators, are not your footmen to be ordered around!" The angered Aithereal royal cultivator snapped.
"Listen carefully! This is it! If we do not work together to eliminate this threat we can all just pack up then and head back to our own kingdoms and watch as our subjects starve throughout the winter while those damn snow creatures continue to pick away at what little food we can keep in the granaries! This is an enemy like none we have ever fought before! They do not fight as we do! They have troops and weapons, unlike anything we have ever seen before! Let me put it another way if we do not eliminate this force what is to stop them from turning around an invading each of our kingdoms one at a time! If they can defeat the combination of our three kingdoms forces our cities and towns will be left practically unguarded!"
The cultivators might not appreciate being yelled at by a mere military commander but his words were true. If they did not put an end to these Avalon troops the invasion would be a huge waste of food and resources and their kingdoms would be now weakened from the loss of troops.
This settled it for them all they had to put aside their egos and work together. Commander Galloway left five thousand of the weaker troops behind to prevent anyone from going in or out of the capital city and prepared the remaining thirty-five thousand troops and twenty-eight cultivators to eliminate the Avalon threat.
___________________________
Ben stood on the hill allowing his cannons to repeatedly salvos of explosive shells until the cannons began to glow orange from the excessive heat.
He had to only watch over the enemy camp for about fifteen minutes before he noticed the men in the camp began to gather up near the northwestern corner of the city.
A large mob of disorderly men carrying shields before them began to slowly march in a ragged formation towards Ben and his cannons. His trained engineers who had practiced firing their cannons every day were able to accurately place the shells on target even while the enemy marched toward them.
The large enemy army must have lost near a thousand troops just to get within two hundred yards of the cannons.
At this point Ben had the engineers stop firing on the enemy and run behind the hill to retrieve their horses. The engineers brought the horses up to the cannons and attached their harness to the cannon frames.
Ben climbed up on a lone horse he rode there and led the engineers back to the frontlines while pulling the cannons behind them.
When Commander Galloway saw the Avalon troops neatly leave the hill before they could pin them down he began to worry.
He stood up in his cart and yelled out, "These bastards are up to something men! Stay on your toes and remain alert! We still have no idea how many troops they have!"
The troops yelled out in acknowledgment and continue forward now turning toward the canyon entrance.
As they walked up a small rise they finally got their first glimpse of the Avalon frontline not more than two hundred yards from them. Commander Galloway and his military officers quickly gathered in his cart and began to attempt to take head counts and figure out what type of troops they were facing.
From what they could guess they assumed they were facing off against ten thousand Avalon troops. It was difficult to count those in the rear lines and there were also thousands of creatures being ridden by men they had never seen before.
Especially on the far right flank from them the creatures were at least twenty feet tall and had enormous bodies. They glittered in the sun from all the armor they wore and the men on their backs looked unreachable.
Commander Galloway shook his head in shock and gave out his orders to his military officers. He waited for his officers to return to their positions and yelled out to his tense troops in front of him.
"Shields up! Forward march!"
Ben had returned back to the frontline along with the cannons being drug behind fast-moving horses. While the enemy was stopped and looking over his formations, Ben had the cannons line up on the far right flank and prepare to fire a couple more salvos into the distant enemy lines.
The cannon engineers after unhitching their cannon began to align and sight them in for the new ranges. Canister shot was loaded and Ben gave the command to open fire.
*Boom!*
A single loud blast and smoke filled the air on the right flank. The cannons had shot out thousands of three-inch diameter steel ball bearings into the enemy lines. The simple wooden shields they held before them were smashed as easily as their fragile bodies were under the attack.
Rows of men began to fall simultaneously as if on cue an entire line of men dropped to the ground instantly dead. Even Commander Galloway wasn't safe near the back as he watched men in front and beside him mowed down by the death-seeking metal balls.
The royal cultivators followed by the lower ranking cultivators in the enemy ranks were the first to charge out in front of their troops. Now that they had decided to join the attack earlier they were playing for keeps now.
They knew the Avalon army had cultivators and magi but were not impressed by their performance yesterday. They assumed with the numbers they possessed they could pin down those fast-moving lower stage Avalon cultivator and avenge the fallen Botodor cultivators.
A large portion of the overconfident enemy cultivators were the ones to receive the heaviest part of the grapeshot that zipped through the air. The metal balls were so large that everyone could actually hear them as they flew toward them.
Numerous zinging noise filled the air like angry bees. The enemy cultivators suffered uncountable rounds that passed straight through their bodies to continue taking the lives of those following behind.
The Elven archers were not to be ignored. Those standing in the metal carriers on the elephant's backs and lined-up behind the frontlines sent waves of deadly arrows into the cultivators and enemy ranks discriminately.
The mass of thousands of enemy troops was so large they did not need to bother aiming. Two thousand arrows arched across the sky from two separate locations to fall amongst the poorly armored joined forces of the invading northern kingdoms.
The barrage of arrows and grapeshot continued up until the enemy began to charge full out at the Avalon frontline. The cannons were then pushed to the rear and had finished their bloody work.
Just before the clash of troops, Ben sent his mounted knights charging away from the frontline to circle around the mass of invaders to strike them from behind.
The War Elephants were sent directly ahead to smash, trample, and slash their way through the right side of the charging enemy troops.
By the time the two armies had finally entered battle along Ben's frontline the two opposing forces were close to being even. The constant attacks from the cannons and Elven archers combined with the sudden charge of the war elephants and mounted knights had cut down the enemies thirty-five thousand troops to around twenty thousand troops.
To hold back the outer flanks from attempting to wrap around his frontline, Ben sent the heavily armored Half-Giants and the armored Dire Tigers charging in on the right and left flanks.
Ben led his cultivators into the mix to seek out any remaining cultivators who were causing damage to his ranks. The majority of them died or had been severely wounded so they had to only make a quick sortie out into the enemy's ranks to eliminate any survivors.
As Ben led his Spiritual Summit Sect disciples back to safety behind their line again he brought what looked like a plastic gun out of his inventory.
To avoid having his men become injured from a long-drawn-out fight it was time to cheat. He raised his arm above his head and in his hand, he held the same flare gun he used yesterday to signal the shock troops to charge out from their hidden locations.
When he pulled the trigger today instead of seeing a green flare like yesterday a red flare flew high into the air. The bright glowing flare hung above the battlefield slowly descending from a small cloth parachute.
When the flare was seen by the enemy they all wondered what this glowing fire in the sky could be for. As if to answer their inner thoughts two roars could be heard from far behind the Avalon troops. Seconds later too large shadows blocked out the sun above the battle and the enemy forces suddenly began to tremble and panic.
They had no idea why they had lost their courage until two monstrous black shapes landed in the center of their lines.
*BOOM*
*BOOM*
Dust flew up and men were sent flying in every direction! The enemy stopped fighting to look at to black creatures who could only have come out of the worst of nightmares. Their screeching roars were deafening and just a simple twitch of their massive tails sent hundreds of men tumbling across the ground.
Ben was even shocked by the effects of the dragon fear the battle which had just started was now already over! These simple men could no longer control their bodies. Swords dropped from their shaking hands and knees could no longer support them.
If the dragons were to now use their full might along with their fire breath attack these invaders would be killed off in a couple of minutes.
Ben ran out in between the kneeling and shaking enemy to have the dragons stand down from attacking. One dragon appeared upset the battle had ended while the other was happily munching on down the closest unlucky enemy he had sighted upon landing. It was clearly obvious the enemy was forced to surrender from the shock of the dragon fear exposure.
There was no need to kill them all and further weaken their kingdoms that Ben would soon decide to visit. Since the three northern kingdoms had set their eyes on Rodara he would turn around and return the favor.
He decided to build a Conquerors Castle in the canyon behind him and garrisoned it with troops to keep these captured men under guard until things were settled with the three northern kingdoms.
Thanks to the dragons ending the fight quickly, Ben ended up healing more enemies than his own men. His knew Heal Area spell was put to use and gained a couple of levels.
[Notice] [Spell: Heal Area has increased! Heal Area Level 2!]
[Notice] [Spell: Heal Area has increased! Heal Area Level 3!]
Now that the main problem had been dealt with it was time to head north and liberate the besieged towns along the border.
Before this could all happen there was one last battle for the day. Five thousand enemy reserve troops had been left behind to guard the city gates.
Once they were finished here Ben would need to deal with them.
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Just as the sun rose above the horizon and cast its light across the land Ben gave the orders for two hundred rifled cannons to open fire on the sleeping enemy camp with explosive rounds.
The enemy thought the arrow barrage yesterday was deadly but compared to the cannon bombardment it could be seen as a friendly greeting. The people of this world were still unfamiliar with explosions and the deafening blasts were a terrifying experience to wake up to.
Large craters of earth were blasted into the landscape while tents full of men were sent sailing above the camp. Dirt, body parts, and supplies rained down on those fortunate enough to not yet be caught in the rain of shells being launched from over eight hundred yards away.
Bens rifled cannons have enough distance to attack the enemy camp anywhere along the eastern and southern walls of the Rodara capital. As the troops on the walls watched the horrifying spectacle below them they shook off their shock and joined in on the attack.
It was clear their king was preparing to make his move against the invaders. They went to the northern and western walls and began to attack the troops the cannons were unable to target. The enemy was quickly woken up to a demonstration on how far a trained Elf could shoot a mythril compound bow. Up until today, they thought they were a safe distance from the walls, but they paid a hefty price to learn otherwise.
______________________________
Ben had decided not to leave the protection of the canyon and arranged his troops just outside the eastern canyon entrance. The frontline troops were facing in a northeast direction which was the direction of the capital city from this location.
[2nd Day Battle Map]: [https://i.postimg.cc/Y2QZfGs8/3-Kingdoms-Second-Day-Frontline.jpg]
The foot soldiers made up the center of the frontline while the archers and cultivator/magi lined up in the second and third rows behind them.
The shock troops were no longer being hidden and placed out on the front line flanks.
On the left flank, the mounted cavalry lined up with the two hundred armored Half-Giants behind them.
The War Elephants were protecting the right flank and the armored dire tigers were patiently waiting behind them for orders.
The only creatures kept in hiding were the two black dragons. The black dragons had a natural ability called dragon fear which caused fear and panic to spread across enemy armies. Even Ben's troops had a difficult time getting near the dragons by cause of the ever-present dragon fear ability.
Athena explained that the stronger a person or creature is the less they would be affected by the dragon fear. When Ben got close to the dragons and placed a hand on them he could feel a slight pressure which might send a slight shiver through him.
For Ben, this could all be due from seeing a fantasy creature who was known for such devastation in stories and movies now right in front of him. When you have that giant head with a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth breathing on your face from inches away it is definitely an unnerving encounter.
_________________________________
Ben stood behind the line of cannons who were currently destroying the enemy camp from the same hilltop he used to launch an arrow volley from yesterday. This hilltop is located a just over two hundred yards east out in front of the current frontline.
He was attempting to force the enemy commander to send his troops out to attack his position. If the enemy refused to attack he would continue to hammer away at them for the remainder of the day.
The only thing which worried Ben was the enemy might decide to swing around north of the city walls. This would place the city in between him and the enemy forcing him to move his cannons and possibly his frontline.
He liked having the canyon to their back while they fought. If things got too out of hand they always had the options to retreat into the canyon which would provide them with smaller battlefield and fewer enemy troops to deal with at one given time.
Over in the enemy camp, they couldn't understand what was happening at first. It wasn't until reports came in of Avalon troops who were once again occupying the small hill southwest of them and large clouds of smoke were rising from it that they attributed the explosions to them.
This was the only logical conclusion. They had never seen cannons and had no idea how they were casing such destruction but each day when the Avalon forces appeared on that damn hill their men would soon begin dying due to their attacks.
_________________________________
Commander Galloway had a front row seat to watch the fireworks show yesterday as his fellow cultivators from his kingdom attacked the women on the hilltop. He saw how the women in white dresses were sent to the backside of the hill and a new group of about fifty people came forward to replace them.
Just as expected the Avalon troops attempted to shoot down the Botodor cultivators with arrows but their speed and agility allowed them to bypass the arrow volley and approach the Avalon troops at breathtaking speeds.
Just when they thought the Botodor cultivators were going to engage the Avalon troops countless magic spells shot out. The Botodor cultivators were obviously slowed down and some were injured by the surprise attack, but they continued to push forward and attack the group of magi.
Then yet another startling event took place when the group of magi began running in an out of combat at impossible speeds and even if they were not a strong as the Botodor cultivators their numbers made up for it with the unrelenting blows that fell on them from every direction.
Commander Galloway watched as they were each individually eliminated. Before the Avalon troops decide to leave the hill a young man wearing shiny metal armor ruthlessly went around to each of the Botodor cultivators and drove his sword into their hearts.
Any hope that Commander Galloway had in saving at least some of those cultivators had been instantly dashed away. It was his orders that sent them out to fight and now his kingdom had lost every impressive cultivator they had.
It was a huge blow to their Botodor kingdoms defenses, and he feared how the king would punish him for this. Even if he still takes the Rodara region he might still lose his military position or even his life.
Now things had gone from bad to worse! The Avalon troops were now able to attack them from incredible distances and if he were to withdraw further from this location they could no longer prevent the entrance or exit from the southern and western walls including through the city gate.
He had no choice but to send troops out to end this cannon fire or the siege would be broken. After sitting here for over a month and starving the people of Rodwynne it was all about to become a huge waste of time if he retreated away from the capital city.
___________________________________
Inside the siege camp out of range from the cannons Commander Galloway once again gathered the cultivators and military officers.
He explained they had just under forty thousand troops left and the Avalon forces were threatening to push them away from the Rodara capital city with their strange weapons.
If the invaders did not remove this threat the time they put into this invasion and siege would be a complete waste. As it is if the Avalon troops wanted they could quickly begin to relay supplies to the city walls. The invaders were already too far away now to stop this.
This puzzled the commander why they had not used the break in their lines to do just this, but what he didn't know food, supplies, and resources were continuously brought in every day through the teleport formations located in the capital and the other besieged towns on the northern border.
The other northern cultivator had learned how the Botodor cultivator had been all killed yesterday. This made them even more unwilling to join the assault until Commander Galloway lost his temper.
"If anyone from the northern allied kingdoms wishes to remain behind for this next attack then leave the camp now and return to your kingdoms! If you are a cultivator or a slave EVERYONE besides five thousand men are going to follow me in this attack! I will leave behind a small force to guard the enemies capital cities gates to prevent the garrison from sallying out or from supplies being brought in!"
"Commander Galloway you should watch your tone, sir! We, cultivators, are not your footmen to be ordered around!" The angered Aithereal royal cultivator snapped.
"Listen carefully! This is it! If we do not work together to eliminate this threat we can all just pack up then and head back to our own kingdoms and watch as our subjects starve throughout the winter while those damn snow creatures continue to pick away at what little food we can keep in the granaries! This is an enemy like none we have ever fought before! They do not fight as we do! They have troops and weapons, unlike anything we have ever seen before! Let me put it another way if we do not eliminate this force what is to stop them from turning around an invading each of our kingdoms one at a time! If they can defeat the combination of our three kingdoms forces our cities and towns will be left practically unguarded!"
The cultivators might not appreciate being yelled at by a mere military commander but his words were true. If they did not put an end to these Avalon troops the invasion would be a huge waste of food and resources and their kingdoms would be now weakened from the loss of troops.
This settled it for them all they had to put aside their egos and work together. Commander Galloway left five thousand of the weaker troops behind to prevent anyone from going in or out of the capital city and prepared the remaining thirty-five thousand troops and twenty-eight cultivators to eliminate the Avalon threat.
___________________________
Ben stood on the hill allowing his cannons to repeatedly salvos of explosive shells until the cannons began to glow orange from the excessive heat.
He had to only watch over the enemy camp for about fifteen minutes before he noticed the men in the camp began to gather up near the northwestern corner of the city.
A large mob of disorderly men carrying shields before them began to slowly march in a ragged formation towards Ben and his cannons. His trained engineers who had practiced firing their cannons every day were able to accurately place the shells on target even while the enemy marched toward them.
The large enemy army must have lost near a thousand troops just to get within two hundred yards of the cannons.
At this point Ben had the engineers stop firing on the enemy and run behind the hill to retrieve their horses. The engineers brought the horses up to the cannons and attached their harness to the cannon frames.
Ben climbed up on a lone horse he rode there and led the engineers back to the frontlines while pulling the cannons behind them.
When Commander Galloway saw the Avalon troops neatly leave the hill before they could pin them down he began to worry.
He stood up in his cart and yelled out, "These bastards are up to something men! Stay on your toes and remain alert! We still have no idea how many troops they have!"
The troops yelled out in acknowledgment and continue forward now turning toward the canyon entrance.
As they walked up a small rise they finally got their first glimpse of the Avalon frontline not more than two hundred yards from them. Commander Galloway and his military officers quickly gathered in his cart and began to attempt to take head counts and figure out what type of troops they were facing.
From what they could guess they assumed they were facing off against ten thousand Avalon troops. It was difficult to count those in the rear lines and there were also thousands of creatures being ridden by men they had never seen before.
Especially on the far right flank from them the creatures were at least twenty feet tall and had enormous bodies. They glittered in the sun from all the armor they wore and the men on their backs looked unreachable.
Commander Galloway shook his head in shock and gave out his orders to his military officers. He waited for his officers to return to their positions and yelled out to his tense troops in front of him.
"Shields up! Forward march!"
Ben had returned back to the frontline along with the cannons being drug behind fast-moving horses. While the enemy was stopped and looking over his formations, Ben had the cannons line up on the far right flank and prepare to fire a couple more salvos into the distant enemy lines.
The cannon engineers after unhitching their cannon began to align and sight them in for the new ranges. Canister shot was loaded and Ben gave the command to open fire.
*Boom!*
A single loud blast and smoke filled the air on the right flank. The cannons had shot out thousands of three-inch diameter steel ball bearings into the enemy lines. The simple wooden shields they held before them were smashed as easily as their fragile bodies were under the attack.
Rows of men began to fall simultaneously as if on cue an entire line of men dropped to the ground instantly dead. Even Commander Galloway wasn't safe near the back as he watched men in front and beside him mowed down by the death-seeking metal balls.
The royal cultivators followed by the lower ranking cultivators in the enemy ranks were the first to charge out in front of their troops. Now that they had decided to join the attack earlier they were playing for keeps now.
They knew the Avalon army had cultivators and magi but were not impressed by their performance yesterday. They assumed with the numbers they possessed they could pin down those fast-moving lower stage Avalon cultivator and avenge the fallen Botodor cultivators.
A large portion of the overconfident enemy cultivators were the ones to receive the heaviest part of the grapeshot that zipped through the air. The metal balls were so large that everyone could actually hear them as they flew toward them.
Numerous zinging noise filled the air like angry bees. The enemy cultivators suffered uncountable rounds that passed straight through their bodies to continue taking the lives of those following behind.
The Elven archers were not to be ignored. Those standing in the metal carriers on the elephant's backs and lined-up behind the frontlines sent waves of deadly arrows into the cultivators and enemy ranks discriminately.
The mass of thousands of enemy troops was so large they did not need to bother aiming. Two thousand arrows arched across the sky from two separate locations to fall amongst the poorly armored joined forces of the invading northern kingdoms.
The barrage of arrows and grapeshot continued up until the enemy began to charge full out at the Avalon frontline. The cannons were then pushed to the rear and had finished their bloody work.
Just before the clash of troops, Ben sent his mounted knights charging away from the frontline to circle around the mass of invaders to strike them from behind.
The War Elephants were sent directly ahead to smash, trample, and slash their way through the right side of the charging enemy troops.
By the time the two armies had finally entered battle along Ben's frontline the two opposing forces were close to being even. The constant attacks from the cannons and Elven archers combined with the sudden charge of the war elephants and mounted knights had cut down the enemies thirty-five thousand troops to around twenty thousand troops.
To hold back the outer flanks from attempting to wrap around his frontline, Ben sent the heavily armored Half-Giants and the armored Dire Tigers charging in on the right and left flanks.
Ben led his cultivators into the mix to seek out any remaining cultivators who were causing damage to his ranks. The majority of them died or had been severely wounded so they had to only make a quick sortie out into the enemy's ranks to eliminate any survivors.
As Ben led his Spiritual Summit Sect disciples back to safety behind their line again he brought what looked like a plastic gun out of his inventory.
To avoid having his men become injured from a long-drawn-out fight it was time to cheat. He raised his arm above his head and in his hand, he held the same flare gun he used yesterday to signal the shock troops to charge out from their hidden locations.
When he pulled the trigger today instead of seeing a green flare like yesterday a red flare flew high into the air. The bright glowing flare hung above the battlefield slowly descending from a small cloth parachute.
When the flare was seen by the enemy they all wondered what this glowing fire in the sky could be for. As if to answer their inner thoughts two roars could be heard from far behind the Avalon troops. Seconds later too large shadows blocked out the sun above the battle and the enemy forces suddenly began to tremble and panic.
They had no idea why they had lost their courage until two monstrous black shapes landed in the center of their lines.
*BOOM*
*BOOM*
Dust flew up and men were sent flying in every direction! The enemy stopped fighting to look at to black creatures who could only have come out of the worst of nightmares. Their screeching roars were deafening and just a simple twitch of their massive tails sent hundreds of men tumbling across the ground.
Ben was even shocked by the effects of the dragon fear the battle which had just started was now already over! These simple men could no longer control their bodies. Swords dropped from their shaking hands and knees could no longer support them.
If the dragons were to now use their full might along with their fire breath attack these invaders would be killed off in a couple of minutes.
Ben ran out in between the kneeling and shaking enemy to have the dragons stand down from attacking. One dragon appeared upset the battle had ended while the other was happily munching on down the closest unlucky enemy he had sighted upon landing. It was clearly obvious the enemy was forced to surrender from the shock of the dragon fear exposure.
There was no need to kill them all and further weaken their kingdoms that Ben would soon decide to visit. Since the three northern kingdoms had set their eyes on Rodara he would turn around and return the favor.
He decided to build a Conquerors Castle in the canyon behind him and garrisoned it with troops to keep these captured men under guard until things were settled with the three northern kingdoms.
Thanks to the dragons ending the fight quickly, Ben ended up healing more enemies than his own men. His knew Heal Area spell was put to use and gained a couple of levels.
[Notice] [Spell: Heal Area has increased! Heal Area Level 2!]
[Notice] [Spell: Heal Area has increased! Heal Area Level 3!]
Now that the main problem had been dealt with it was time to head north and liberate the besieged towns along the border.
Before this could all happen there was one last battle for the day. Five thousand enemy reserve troops had been left behind to guard the city gates.
Once they were finished here Ben would need to deal with them.
Just as the sun rose above the horizon and cast its light across the land Ben gave the orders for two hundred rifled cannons to open fire on the sleeping enemy camp with explosive rounds.The enemy thought the arrow barrage yesterday was deadly but compared to the cannon bombardment it could be seen as a friendly greeting. The people of this world were still unfamiliar with explosions and the deafening blasts were a terrifying experience to wake up to.Large craters of earth were blasted into the landscape while tents full of men were sent sailing above the camp. Dirt, body parts, and supplies rained down on those fortunate enough to not yet be caught in the rain of shells being launched from over eight hundred yards away.Bens rifled cannons have enough distance to attack the enemy camp anywhere along the eastern and southern walls of the Rodara capital. As the troops on the walls watched the horrifying spectacle below them they shook off their shock and joined in on the attack.It was clear their king was preparing to make his move against the invaders. They went to the northern and western walls and began to attack the troops the cannons were unable to target. The enemy was quickly woken up to a demonstration on how far a trained Elf could shoot a mythril compound bow. Up until today, they thought they were a safe distance from the walls, but they paid a hefty price to learn otherwise.______________________________Ben had decided not to leave the protection of the canyon and arranged his troops just outside the eastern canyon entrance. The frontline troops were facing in a northeast direction which was the direction of the capital city from this location.2nd Day Battle Map: https://i.postimg.cc/Y2QZfGs8/3-Kingdoms-Second-Day-Frontline.jpgThe foot soldiers made up the center of the frontline while the archers and cultivator/magi lined up in the second and third rows behind them.The shock troops were no longer being hidden and placed out on the front line flanks.On the left flank, the mounted cavalry lined up with the two hundred armored Half-Giants behind them.The War Elephants were protecting the right flank and the armored dire tigers were patiently waiting behind them for orders.The only creatures kept in hiding were the two black dragons. The black dragons had a natural ability called dragon fear which caused fear and panic to spread across enemy armies. Even Ben's troops had a difficult time getting near the dragons by cause of the ever-present dragon fear ability.Athena explained that the stronger a person or creature is the less they would be affected by the dragon fear. When Ben got close to the dragons and placed a hand on them he could feel a slight pressure which might send a slight shiver through him.For Ben, this could all be due from seeing a fantasy creature who was known for such devastation in stories and movies now right in front of him. When you have that giant head with a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth breathing on your face from inches away it is definitely an unnerving encounter._________________________________Ben stood behind the line of cannons who were currently destroying the enemy camp from the same hilltop he used to launch an arrow volley from yesterday. This hilltop is located a just over two hundred yards east out in front of the current frontline.He was attempting to force the enemy commander to send his troops out to attack his position. If the enemy refused to attack he would continue to hammer away at them for the remainder of the day.The only thing which worried Ben was the enemy might decide to swing around north of the city walls. This would place the city in between him and the enemy forcing him to move his cannons and possibly his frontline.He liked having the canyon to their back while they fought. If things got too out of hand they always had the options to retreat into the canyon which would provide them with smaller battlefield and fewer enemy troops to deal with at one given time.Over in the enemy camp, they couldn't understand what was happening at first. It wasn't until reports came in of Avalon troops who were once again occupying the small hill southwest of them and large clouds of smoke were rising from it that they attributed the explosions to them.This was the only logical conclusion. They had never seen cannons and had no idea how they were casing such destruction but each day when the Avalon forces appeared on that damn hill their men would soon begin dying due to their attacks._________________________________Commander Galloway had a front row seat to watch the fireworks show yesterday as his fellow cultivators from his kingdom attacked the women on the hilltop. He saw how the women in white dresses were sent to the backside of the hill and a new group of about fifty people came forward to replace them.Just as expected the Avalon troops attempted to shoot down the Botodor cultivators with arrows but their speed and agility allowed them to bypass the arrow volley and approach the Avalon troops at breathtaking speeds.Just when they thought the Botodor cultivators were going to engage the Avalon troops countless magic spells shot out. The Botodor cultivators were obviously slowed down and some were injured by the surprise attack, but they continued to push forward and attack the group of magi.Then yet another startling event took place when the group of magi began running in an out of combat at impossible speeds and even if they were not a strong as the Botodor cultivators their numbers made up for it with the unrelenting blows that fell on them from every direction.Commander Galloway watched as they were each individually eliminated. Before the Avalon troops decide to leave the hill a young man wearing shiny metal armor ruthlessly went around to each of the Botodor cultivators and drove his sword into their hearts.Any hope that Commander Galloway had in saving at least some of those cultivators had been instantly dashed away. It was his orders that sent them out to fight and now his kingdom had lost every impressive cultivator they had.It was a huge blow to their Botodor kingdoms defenses, and he feared how the king would punish him for this. Even if he still takes the Rodara region he might still lose his military position or even his life.Now things had gone from bad to worse! The Avalon troops were now able to attack them from incredible distances and if he were to withdraw further from this location they could no longer prevent the entrance or exit from the southern and western walls including through the city gate.He had no choice but to send troops out to end this cannon fire or the siege would be broken. After sitting here for over a month and starving the people of Rodwynne it was all about to become a huge waste of time if he retreated away from the capital city.___________________________________Inside the siege camp out of range from the cannons Commander Galloway once again gathered the cultivators and military officers.He explained they had just under forty thousand troops left and the Avalon forces were threatening to push them away from the Rodara capital city with their strange weapons.If the invaders did not remove this threat the time they put into this invasion and siege would be a complete waste. As it is if the Avalon troops wanted they could quickly begin to relay supplies to the city walls. The invaders were already too far away now to stop this.This puzzled the commander why they had not used the break in their lines to do just this, but what he didn't know food, supplies, and resources were continuously brought in every day through the teleport formations located in the capital and the other besieged towns on the northern border.The other northern cultivator had learned how the Botodor cultivator had been all killed yesterday. This made them even more unwilling to join the assault until Commander Galloway lost his temper."If anyone from the northern allied kingdoms wishes to remain behind for this next attack then leave the camp now and return to your kingdoms! If you are a cultivator or a slave EVERYONE besides five thousand men are going to follow me in this attack! I will leave behind a small force to guard the enemies capital cities gates to prevent the garrison from sallying out or from supplies being brought in!""Commander Galloway you should watch your tone, sir! We, cultivators, are not your footmen to be ordered around!" The angered Aithereal royal cultivator snapped."Listen carefully! This is it! If we do not work together to eliminate this threat we can all just pack up then and head back to our own kingdoms and watch as our subjects starve throughout the winter while those damn snow creatures continue to pick away at what little food we can keep in the granaries! This is an enemy like none we have ever fought before! They do not fight as we do! They have troops and weapons, unlike anything we have ever seen before! Let me put it another way if we do not eliminate this force what is to stop them from turning around an invading each of our kingdoms one at a time! If they can defeat the combination of our three kingdoms forces our cities and towns will be left practically unguarded!"The cultivators might not appreciate being yelled at by a mere military commander but his words were true. If they did not put an end to these Avalon troops the invasion would be a huge waste of food and resources and their kingdoms would be now weakened from the loss of troops.This settled it for them all they had to put aside their egos and work together. Commander Galloway left five thousand of the weaker troops behind to prevent anyone from going in or out of the capital city and prepared the remaining thirty-five thousand troops and twenty-eight cultivators to eliminate the Avalon threat.___________________________Ben stood on the hill allowing his cannons to repeatedly salvos of explosive shells until the cannons began to glow orange from the excessive heat.He had to only watch over the enemy camp for about fifteen minutes before he noticed the men in the camp began to gather up near the northwestern corner of the city.A large mob of disorderly men carrying shields before them began to slowly march in a ragged formation towards Ben and his cannons. His trained engineers who had practiced firing their cannons every day were able to accurately place the shells on target even while the enemy marched toward them.The large enemy army must have lost near a thousand troops just to get within two hundred yards of the cannons.At this point Ben had the engineers stop firing on the enemy and run behind the hill to retrieve their horses. The engineers brought the horses up to the cannons and attached their harness to the cannon frames.Ben climbed up on a lone horse he rode there and led the engineers back to the frontlines while pulling the cannons behind them.When Commander Galloway saw the Avalon troops neatly leave the hill before they could pin them down he began to worry.He stood up in his cart and yelled out, "These bastards are up to something men! Stay on your toes and remain alert! We still have no idea how many troops they have!"The troops yelled out in acknowledgment and continue forward now turning toward the canyon entrance.As they walked up a small rise they finally got their first glimpse of the Avalon frontline not more than two hundred yards from them. Commander Galloway and his military officers quickly gathered in his cart and began to attempt to take head counts and figure out what type of troops they were facing.From what they could guess they assumed they were facing off against ten thousand Avalon troops. It was difficult to count those in the rear lines and there were also thousands of creatures being ridden by men they had never seen before.Especially on the far right flank from them the creatures were at least twenty feet tall and had enormous bodies. They glittered in the sun from all the armor they wore and the men on their backs looked unreachable.Commander Galloway shook his head in shock and gave out his orders to his military officers. He waited for his officers to return to their positions and yelled out to his tense troops in front of him."Shields up! Forward march!"Ben had returned back to the frontline along with the cannons being drug behind fast-moving horses. While the enemy was stopped and looking over his formations, Ben had the cannons line up on the far right flank and prepare to fire a couple more salvos into the distant enemy lines.The cannon engineers after unhitching their cannon began to align and sight them in for the new ranges. Canister shot was loaded and Ben gave the command to open fire.*Boom!*A single loud blast and smoke filled the air on the right flank. The cannons had shot out thousands of three-inch diameter steel ball bearings into the enemy lines. The simple wooden shields they held before them were smashed as easily as their fragile bodies were under the attack.Rows of men began to fall simultaneously as if on cue an entire line of men dropped to the ground instantly dead. Even Commander Galloway wasn't safe near the back as he watched men in front and beside him mowed down by the death-seeking metal balls.The royal cultivators followed by the lower ranking cultivators in the enemy ranks were the first to charge out in front of their troops. Now that they had decided to join the attack earlier they were playing for keeps now.They knew the Avalon army had cultivators and magi but were not impressed by their performance yesterday. They assumed with the numbers they possessed they could pin down those fast-moving lower stage Avalon cultivator and avenge the fallen Botodor cultivators.A large portion of the overconfident enemy cultivators were the ones to receive the heaviest part of the grapeshot that zipped through the air. The metal balls were so large that everyone could actually hear them as they flew toward them.Numerous zinging noise filled the air like angry bees. The enemy cultivators suffered uncountable rounds that passed straight through their bodies to continue taking the lives of those following behind.The Elven archers were not to be ignored. Those standing in the metal carriers on the elephant's backs and lined-up behind the frontlines sent waves of deadly arrows into the cultivators and enemy ranks discriminately.The mass of thousands of enemy troops was so large they did not need to bother aiming. Two thousand arrows arched across the sky from two separate locations to fall amongst the poorly armored joined forces of the invading northern kingdoms.The barrage of arrows and grapeshot continued up until the enemy began to charge full out at the Avalon frontline. The cannons were then pushed to the rear and had finished their bloody work.Just before the clash of troops, Ben sent his mounted knights charging away from the frontline to circle around the mass of invaders to strike them from behind.The War Elephants were sent directly ahead to smash, trample, and slash their way through the right side of the charging enemy troops.By the time the two armies had finally entered battle along Ben's frontline the two opposing forces were close to being even. The constant attacks from the cannons and Elven archers combined with the sudden charge of the war elephants and mounted knights had cut down the enemies thirty-five thousand troops to around twenty thousand troops.To hold back the outer flanks from attempting to wrap around his frontline, Ben sent the heavily armored Half-Giants and the armored Dire Tigers charging in on the right and left flanks.Ben led his cultivators into the mix to seek out any remaining cultivators who were causing damage to his ranks. The majority of them died or had been severely wounded so they had to only make a quick sortie out into the enemy's ranks to eliminate any survivors.As Ben led his Spiritual Summit Sect disciples back to safety behind their line again he brought what looked like a plastic gun out of his inventory.To avoid having his men become injured from a long-drawn-out fight it was time to cheat. He raised his arm above his head and in his hand, he held the same flare gun he used yesterday to signal the shock troops to charge out from their hidden locations.When he pulled the trigger today instead of seeing a green flare like yesterday a red flare flew high into the air. The bright glowing flare hung above the battlefield slowly descending from a small cloth parachute.When the flare was seen by the enemy they all wondered what this glowing fire in the sky could be for. As if to answer their inner thoughts two roars could be heard from far behind the Avalon troops. Seconds later too large shadows blocked out the sun above the battle and the enemy forces suddenly began to tremble and panic.They had no idea why they had lost their courage until two monstrous black shapes landed in the center of their lines.*BOOM**BOOM*Dust flew up and men were sent flying in every direction! The enemy stopped fighting to look at to black creatures who could only have come out of the worst of nightmares. Their screeching roars were deafening and just a simple twitch of their massive tails sent hundreds of men tumbling across the ground.Ben was even shocked by the effects of the dragon fear the battle which had just started was now already over! These simple men could no longer control their bodies. Swords dropped from their shaking hands and knees could no longer support them.If the dragons were to now use their full might along with their fire breath attack these invaders would be killed off in a couple of minutes.Ben ran out in between the kneeling and shaking enemy to have the dragons stand down from attacking. One dragon appeared upset the battle had ended while the other was happily munching on down the closest unlucky enemy he had sighted upon landing. It was clearly obvious the enemy was forced to surrender from the shock of the dragon fear exposure.There was no need to kill them all and further weaken their kingdoms that Ben would soon decide to visit. Since the three northern kingdoms had set their eyes on Rodara he would turn around and return the favor.He decided to build a Conquerors Castle in the canyon behind him and garrisoned it with troops to keep these captured men under guard until things were settled with the three northern kingdoms.Thanks to the dragons ending the fight quickly, Ben ended up healing more enemies than his own men. His knew Heal Area spell was put to use and gained a couple of levels.Notice Spell: Heal Area has increased! Heal Area Level 2!Notice Spell: Heal Area has increased! Heal Area Level 3!Now that the main problem had been dealt with it was time to head north and liberate the besieged towns along the border.Before this could all happen there was one last battle for the day. Five thousand enemy reserve troops had been left behind to guard the city gates.Once they were finished here Ben would need to deal with them.
