Chapter 777.2: Ruh Roh

While the storm over the southern seas was gradually subsiding, an even greater storm was brewing across the lands of the Poro Province.

In Mammoth State, along the banks of the Tassen River in the northeastern corner of the Poro Province, winding trenches crawled across the barren earth like scars. The soldiers crouched inside them were all members of the Moon Clan Resistance Army. Some carried Ripper rifles, others wielded LD-47s, while others worked in pairs around water-cooled Maxim machine guns that had been retired from Clearspring City.

The latter had once distinguished themselves during the Tide in Clearspring City thanks to their high rate of fire, low cost, and ease of maintenance.

Although the New Alliance had long since stopped manufacturing them and already possessed far better replacements, for Laxi, cheap and practical equipment like it was exactly what he needed most.

Besides those, there were 88mm mortars, early-model 20mm Lance anti-tank rifles, and all sorts of other products from Goblin Technology. They might no longer have been particularly impressive on the frontlines, but in the Poro Province, they were still rare treasures.

After all, aside from a handful of reasonably respectable 100mm artillery pieces, many of the Moon Clan Resistance Army's opponents were still using iron-pipe rifles, or even bows and spears. They couldn't even dig proper trenches!

Their trenches in particular ran in perfectly straight lines without so much as a single bend to dissipate blast waves. If even one shell landed inside, everyone along that stretch would be killed, with nowhere to hide.

Just as most players who had visited this land said on the forums, the Poro Province had a completely different aesthetic from Ocean Edge Province and Baiyue Province.

If Chalas' Marines had been brought over, they might have won even more easily than the Burning Corps had beaten them.

Of course, that was assuming logistics and terrain were ignored. Once those two factors were taken into consideration, the outcome became considerably less straightforward.

At the Mammoth State local army's position, Governor Bamut held a monocular telescope and looked toward the nearby high ground with a smile, faint mockery hanging from the corners of his lips.

They were nothing more than a bunch of slaves. With so few men, they actually dared challenge His Majesty's authority?

They truly have no idea where they stand.

Mammoth State might have been rather far from the Heavenly City, but Bamut had never withheld a single coin that should have been spent on the military. And unlike the weaklings in Tiger State, who had been corrupted by merchants, Mammoth State had none of those pervasive profiteers. Its local army remained firmly in the hands of the nobility and was absolutely loyal to Wutuo Xilande.

The Fierce Tiger Army might not dare deal with those moonfolk, but he certainly wouldn't show the traitors any mercy! He would cut off every last one of their heads, load them onto carts, and send them all the way to the Heavenly City so that the restless rebels there could see what happened to traitors!

"I heard that Laxi was nothing more than a slave. Looks like Duke Nihark didn't train him properly."

Hearing Duke Bamut's words, General Daxina beside him roared with laughter. "Haha! How could Duke Nihark compare to you? If it had been you, you would've trained him to keep his head down and obey. He wouldn't dare so much as bare his teeth at his master."

Duke Bamut revealed a faint smile. "Train him? A dog that bites the hand that feeds it is better off hanging from the city walls." After a pause, he suddenly thought of something and asked, "Come to think of it, does he have any family?"

Daxina froze for a moment, then shook his head. "Apparently not."

"What a pity." Bamut clicked his tongue regretfully and handed the telescope back to the guard beside him.

Fighting an opponent who was nothing more than a penniless bachelor with only his miserable life to lose was the least entertaining sort of battle. Even after winning, there was hardly any enjoyment to be had.

Still, the fact that the man belonged to the Moon Clan had some value. Hopefully His Majesty would appreciate the gift.

At that moment, a burly man nearly two meters tall suddenly stepped forward and respectfully bowed his head. "Honored Duke Bamut, General Daxina, please allow me to serve as the vanguard! I swear that before sunset, I will personally drag that dead dog before you!"

Bamut glanced at him and found the warrior impressively fierce in appearance. A trace of approval appeared in his eyes.

Seeing his reaction, the general beside him tactfully stepped half a pace forward and introduced him. "This is Jacques, one of my commanders. The Long Fang Unit under his command is considered one of the elite forces in our army! There should be no problem having him serve as the vanguard!"

"Very good." Since a general had given his recommendation, Duke Bamut nodded approvingly and looked at the warrior. "Commander Jacques, since your superior thinks highly of you as well, you shall lead the vanguard."

The burly man immediately lit up with joy at those words and hurriedly thanked them over and over. “Thank you, Lord Bamut! Thank you, General!”

Mammoth State was a remote place, and major bandit troubles like this were rare. If he could distinguish himself in battle, there was a real chance he might even become a general within his lifetime!

Once he received the order, Jacques did not hesitate. He immediately returned to his own unit, summoned his officers for a brief mobilization meeting, and then led more than a thousand men surging toward the frontlines. Every one of them carried a Ripper rifle, and they also had two 100mm infantry guns hauled by a pair of two-headed oxen. Their firepower could hardly be scoffed at.

Seeing the fierce-looking force, the soldiers at the local army’s positions all showed looks of awe and instinctively moved aside to let them pass.

“The Long Fangs...”

“Commander Jacques is personally taking the field!”

“Those mookfolk are probably finished...”

To them, the Gray Wolf Army and the Wislander officers were all too distant to mean much. But the Long Fang Unit was a god of war they could actually see with their own eyes, standing right beside them. Not only did these men carry the finest equipment, every one of them was tall and powerfully built, as sturdy as a bull. Almost no one doubted that once these men made their move, the rabble opposing them would collapse instantly.

In fact, ever since the resistance army entered Mammoth State, it had won every small engagement but lost every large-scale battle. Its main force had retreated again and again until it had finally been pushed back to the banks of the Tassen River, where it had barely managed to establish a foothold thanks to the higher ground.

There had been plenty of rain recently, and the Tassen River was running fast. Even if they wanted to cross the river and flee, they likely no longer had the chance.

More importantly, General Daxina had long since anticipated that they intended to cross the river, carve out territory, and hold it. He had already deployed a mighty division to the opposite bank to keep watch over them.

At the same time, on the Moon Clan Resistance Army’s side, the scouts at the observation post immediately noticed the movement of the local army and, without wasting a word, passed the information up the chain of command.

The report moved level by level and reached Laxi in less than half a minute.

Inside the command tent, Laxi gathered the officers who had followed him from Port Gallon for a brief tactical meeting. The group clustered around the map and exchanged their opinions.

“A battalion is coming, and every one of them is carrying a rifle. They’re probably one of Mammoth State’s elite local units!”

“The Long Fang Unit, right? I heard their commander is called Jacques. He’s from the Mammoth Clan, and apparently he’s also the son-in-law of General Daxina, the highest ranking officer of the local army.”

One officer sneered. “Heh. They actually dare send their own core force in as the vanguard. These bastards really don’t think much of us.”

Another officer rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “If the Long Fang Unit is here, then their commander should be somewhere near the front line too. We might be able to hook a big fish this time.”

Looking toward Laxi, who had remained silent the entire time, the commander of the Resistance Army’s First Corps said with shining eyes,

“Time to reel in the net, General!”

“Yeah. It’s about damn time. We’ve yielded enough ground to those 50,000 pigs over the past two weeks!”

The local army claimed to number a solid 100,000, but judging from how quickly they made and broke camp, along with the garbage and latrine pits they left behind, even counting the pack animals hauling supplies, they probably had only 60,000 or so men in total.

After staring at the map for a long while, Laxi nodded, picked up a pen, and carefully marked two points on it. Then he looked up at his trusted officers and gave his orders with a serious expression. “Tell the brothers the time has come to counterattack! No more fucking holding back. Hit them as hard as you can!”

The officers snapped to attention, saluted in the New Alliance style, and roared in unison, “Yes, sir!”

As soon as the order was issued, the soldiers throughout the resistance positions sprang into motion like tightly wound gears.

...

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